Mating
by Transformersfan524
Summary: Ratchet's in a mating cycle and wants to get sparked. He chooses Optimus to spark him. Optimus runs. Ratchet chases. Hilarity ensues. slash, mechpreg, Ratchet OOC on purpose main pairing: Optimus Prime/Ratchet, rating will go up later
1. Chapter 1

Here's another story. I'm still focusing on Love Under Duress, so this one might not get the regular updates that Love Under Duress does, but I thought I'd go ahead and start posting this one.

This is also my first crack at a humor story, so bear with me. Not sure how good I'll do at the humor.

Pairings:

Optimus Prime/Ratchet

Prowl/Jazz

Ironhide/Chormia

Smokescreen/Hot Shot

Bluestreak/Sideswipe/Sunstreaker

Perceptor/Beachcomber

Wheeljack/Skyfire

Will Lennox/Sarah Lennox

Notes:

1) I consider this differenet than the type of story Heat Cycle is, jsut in case it seems similar.

2) Takes place in the movieverse. Not really a specific time period, but definately after the second movie.

3) Don't think I specified it, but Smokescreen and Prowl are twins in this one.

Summary: After going into a mating cycle, Ratchet targets Optimus and wants him to spark him. Optimus doesn't want to and has to spend six months running from the CMO. Will he out run Ratchet? Or will he break down and spark him?

Warnings: mechpreg, sticky, spark sex, slash

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers in any way.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

Optimus Prime was still trying to figure out how he had gotten into this mess in the first place. He was the fearless leader of the Autobots. He had taken on Megatron so many times that he had lost count. He could face down an entire army of Decepticons without fear.

So how the last of the Primes found himself running through their base away from his CMO was beyond him.

As Optimus rounded the corner in hopes of losing the medic, he could hear to laughing from the twins.

"Hey, Prime! Thought you weren't afraid of anything!" Sunstreaker taunted.

Optimus growled. "Brig!" He never slowed his pace as he continued running.

"Oh, Optimus!" Ratchet called in a singsong voice as he chased the Prime. "Don't you want to play?"

Oh, sweet Primus, this was horrible! Why in the Pit it had to be him that had incurred the CMO's attention was a question Optimus would have to ask Primus the day he met him.

:_The twins are in the brig, Prime._: Prowl reported.

:_Thank you, Prowl. NOW HELP ME!_: Optimus shouted over the comm line.

There was a moment of silence before Prowl spoke. :_Um, no. Sorry. You're on your own where Ratchet is concerned._: The tactician promptly cut the link before he could hear the Prime's response.

Optimus growled as he ducked into an empty hanger. He held his breath, despite the fact that it was unnecessary, and released a vent of relieved air as he heard the medic run right past the hanger. Optimus slowly slid down the wall to the floor in relief.

Thank Primus! He had finally lost the medic after running from him for the past three joor!

Optimus was tired from all the running, angry from all the laughter from the men, and downright terrified of the way his CMO had been acting in the past month. He had never in his entire existence encountered something like this. He now regretted never taking the time to actually learn about the cultures of the different cities from Cybertron when he had been told to. He hadn't thought he'd need this type of lesson on the habits and protocols of other cultures.

Primus! And his life had been as normal as could be just last month.

* * *

><p>~One Groon Earlier~<p>

Optimus was currently sitting in his office with SIC Prowl, his TIC Jazz, whom the Matrix had brought back after Ratchet repaired his frame, the femme commander Elita-One, and his current Weapon's Specialist Chromia.

Ironhide was with the Lennoxes while Colonel Lennox had a month-long vacation, so until he returned with the colonel, Chromia was acting as Weapon's Specialist in her bondmate's absence.

"The latest Decepticon incursion ended with only a one percent casualty figure with no mortalities. I'd say that was a very acceptable outcome." Prowl stated as he looked over all the reports in his hands although he knew them without looking at them.

"Yeah. The only problem is that they got away with that human device. Primus only knows what Starscream might come up with on how to utilize it to help with the Decepticons." Chromia stated.

Optimus turned his attention to Elita-One. "Any news from the femme scouts, Elita?"

"Negative. Flare Up and Moonracer have not discovered any Decepticon activity in their sectors. They will keep looking." Elita replied.

"Jazz?" Optimus asked.

"Mirage, Bumblebee, and I are ready to head out whenever-" Jazz was cut off by a sudden shout.

"Bluestreak! Stop it! This isn't funny anymore!" Sunstreaker suddenly shouted.

"Oh, come on, Sunny. Don't you want to play?" Bluestreak's voice had a seductive tint to it.

Optimus, Elita, and Chromia all froze at that.

"Come on, Blue! Stop it!" Sideswipe's voice was panicked and sounded closer than Sunstreaker's did.

Prowl and Jazz weren't phased in the least by this.

"Whenever we find the 'Cons' base, we'll do some spyin' and sabotagin'." Jazz finished, not worried in the least about what was happening outside.

Optimus forced himself to focus. "Okay. Prowl, suggestions?"

"The planet is too large to search for the Decepticons base. Even with our number here, it's inadvisable. When out on patrol, it may be best for there to be three or four in a group. Also, we should be on high alert. As Chromia stated, we have no way of knowing what monstrosity Starscream may come up with as a means of battling us with the invention they stole." Prowl replied.

"BLUESTREAK! STOP CHASING US!" Sideswipe and Sunstreaker cried at the same time as it sounded as if they were running right past the room.

Optimus, Chromia, and Elita looked toward the door.

Prowl made a mark on his datapad. "Might be a good idea to inform Ironhide of this so he can be prepared should the Decepticons target either him or Colonel Lennox."

"Sides! Sunny! Come back! You know you want me!" Bluestreak called as he ran past the room as well.

Chromia couldn't take it anymore. "Are you two deaf, or just ignorant?"

Prowl glanced at the blue femme. "About what?"

"About what! How about the fact that your only creation is out there apparently trying to get the maniac twins into the berth!" Elita exclaimed.

"Bluestreak has been bonded to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker for two vorn. We have grown past the fact that he interfaces with them." Prowl replied.

"But he's chasing them!" Chromia exclaimed.

"Yes. He gets that from Jazz." Prowl replied calmly.

"Come on, Hot Shot! Time to get busy!" Smokescreen suddenly said cheerfully.

"Uh, okay." an uneasy Hot Shot replied.

Optimus felt a processor-ache coming on. First Bluestreak, now Smokescreen. "Prowl, is there something wrong with your brother?"

"Not to my knowledge, but I am not a medic. You would need to ask Ratchet that." Prowl replied.

"O-kay. If you say so." Optimus was uncertain, but chose to continue with the meeting. "Do we-"

"PROWL! JAZZ! DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR SON! Sunstreaker cried.

"I'm afraid he's your problem, Sunstreaker." Jazz called. He snickered before continuing. "Prowl already gave you choices on what to do! Either run from him or 'face him one. Your call. Just be ready to run for six groon."

"FRAG YOU!" Sunstreaker snarled.

Jazz snickered again.

"Must you agitate him?" Prowl asked, glancing over at his bondmate.

"It's fun." Jazz replied with a smirk.

Optimus rubbed his helm, fighting the overwhelming urge to pull out his high grade and drink a cube or ten. "Will one of you explain to me why Bluestreak is chasing them in this way? He is normally more reserved when it comes to such matters."

"Ah, Blue's just going through a Praxian mating cycle." Jazz answered.

"Praxian mating cycle?" Elita repeated.

"Yes. From time to time, Praxians enter a mating cycle in which their creator protocols prepare their frames to be sparked. During this time, it is rather easy to become sparked. All Praxians go through this. Unfortunately, when one Praxian enters the mating cycle, it normally activates other Praxians' mating cycles as well, which is why many Praxians go through it at the same time. In short, when the Praxian is bonded, the mech or femme will jump their mate at any given time as well as want to constantly interface. They are rather lust-driven during this time frame. Once they become sparked, they return to their normal state of mind." Prowl explained.

"And you're not having this issue why?" Chromia asked.

"It only applies to carriers. As I am a sire, I am unaffected. Polyhexians do not have such mating cycles, so Jazz and I need not worry." Prowl exclaimed.

"Us Polyhexians just sit back and let sparking happen when it happens." Jazz replied.

Elita was curious. "What happens if the Praxian isn't bonded?"

"If they are in a relationship, their protocols target their current berth mate. However, if the Praxian is not in a relationship at all, the protocols will target a sire who is close to them who the protocols deem a good candidate for such a mating. Once the sire is selected, it is solely that sire who the Praxian will chase." Prowl glanced at Elita. "You are part Praxian, Elita. Why do you not know this?"

Elita shrugged. "When I was sparked, I only had Polyhexian coding like my carrier. Never saw a need to learn the Praxian heritage, especially since I lived in Polyhex and then Iacon."

Prowl frowned. "Praxian heritage is something to be honored."

Elita held up a hand no offense. "Not like 'Jack or Ratchet do, either."

"Wheeljack knows of the Praxian culture, though he does not partake in any Praxian activities. Carrier, on the other hand, knows them intimately and imparted that knowledge to Smokescreen and myself. We didn't need our grand-sire to tell us. He taught us all about our Praxian and Polyhexian heritage. Even though neither of us possess any Polyhexian coding as he did, he thought we needed to know both." Prowl explained.

It still amazed Optimus that Ratchet was the carrier to Smokescreen and Prowl. He would have never guessed from how they interact with one another. It was only by accident that he learned of their relation. Since Ratchet showed no physical indication of being Praxian, the Prime didn't think he held any such heritage.

"So, what is Bluestreak going to do? Chase them until they give in?" Chromia asked.

"Or the mating cycle ends. He'll be like this for the next six months if he doesn't get sparked." Jazz stated.

"Okay." Optimus wasn't sure what to think about that.

"A word of advice. Do not allow them to use you as shields. Praxians in the mating cycle are known to be aggressive when someone tries to stop them from getting to their mates or the sire they are after." Prowl stated.

Optimus shook his helm. His processor-ache was getting worse. "At least there are no other Praxians to go through this."

Jazz looked over at Prowl. "Hey, Prowler. Just who has the doc targeted?"

Prowl glanced over at his mate. "As far as I know, Carrier has not targeted anyone. Although the mating cycle just started."

"Ratchet?" Chromia repeated.

"Sure. You know his sire was a Praxian. Well, unlike Elita here, Ratchet and 'Jack both have Polyhexian coding as well as Praxian coding. Since the doc is a carrier, he's going through it as well. And since we all know the doc ain't got no berth mate, he's going to be choosing from the un-bonded mechs on the base." Jazz stated.

Optimus's processor-ache just got worse. "I really hope Sideswipe and Sunstreaker give in. Ratchet alone will be enough."

"Ah, give Sideswipe and Sunstreaker another few days and they'll be trying to spark Blue." Jazz stated.

"Just so we can warn the un-bonded mechs, what are the signs that he's interested?" Elita asked.

"Well, jumpin' ya is kind a good sign." Jazz stated.

"He'll also start acting rather seductive. Believe it or not, my carrier can be seductive when he wants to be. He'll also do things such lightly touching your armor or sidling closer than normal." Prowl stated.

"There's the winner. We all know how Ratchet enjoys his personal space. He gets too close, and that's the clue." Elita said.

"Indeed." Prowl glanced over at the datapad. "In any case-"

"OH, ALL RIGHT, BLUE! WE GIVE UP! LET'S JUST GET TO OUR QUARTERS FIRST!" Sideswipe sounded exasperated.

"LET'S GO!" Bluestreak sounded happy.

"Considering Hot Shot is already giving in to Smokescreen, looks like we're down to the good doctor." Jazz said with a grin. "Can't wait to see who he pinpoints."

"We have a few un-bonded mechs on base, though I doubt he's going after any of the younger ones such as Bumblebee, Skids, and Mudflap." Prowl remarked.

Optimus felt the mother of processor-aches forming. His CMO was going to be incapacitated by a mating cycle for the next six months. Thank Primus First Aid was on Earth!

"Well, we're down our best medic. Let's hope that nothing happens." Chromia stated.

"Look on the bright side. Maybe the mech he chooses will just spark 'em and he'll be back to his good ole' wrench throwing, audio-busting self." Jazz said as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded across the chest.

"One can only hope." Optimus muttered, rubbing his helm.

"Besides, it is not as if they are lust driven every astrosecond of every cycle. As long as the mech Ratchet wishes to spark him is not around, he will be somewhat normal. He catches sight of said mech, and that's when he'll start chasing. Of course, there may be times the mating cycle urges him to find said mech, and then the mech had better run if he does not wish to spark Ratchet." Prowl stated.

This was a lot for the Autobot leader to take in.

* * *

><p>Optimus was reading over some of his datapads when there was a ping at his door, indicating that someone wanted in the room. "Come in!"<p>

The door opened, and Ratchet entered the room. "Prime, I have those reports you wanted."

"Thank you, Ratchet." Optimus was about to go back to reading the reports. He noticed that Ratchet hadn't moved and glanced up.

Ratchet had a far-off look in his optics at that. It wasn't common for the CMO.

"Ratchet, are you all right?" Optimus asked.

Ratchet smiled. "I'm fine."

Optimus nodded. "Any idea when Smokescreen and Bluestreak may end up sparked?"

"We won't know for a bit." Ratchet answered.

Optimus looked back down.

"You know, Optimus, we haven't spent any time together recently." Ratchet said lowly.

Optimus was so engrossed in the datapad that he didn't register the tone. "I suppose so. We've both been busy."

"Hardly a way to act." Ratchet had moved closer without Optimus realized it, his optics roaming over the Prime's frame.

"Hmm." Optimus didn't register anything but what was written on the datapad.

"Maybe we should get some energon together alter on. And maybe something else." Ratchet purred.

Optimus finally came out of his work-induced trance. "What are you-" He turned to look at Ratchet only to release a squeak at just how close Ratchet was.

The medic was beside the chair watching the Prime intently. He was so close that Optimus could feel Ratchet's EM field mixing with his own. Ratchet reached over ghosted his fingers over the Prime's forearm.

"R-Ratchet, wh-what are y-you doing?" Optimus back away slightly.

Ratchet smirked. "What does it look like?" He jumped at Optimus.

Optimus yelped as he fell backwards in the chair and started backing away from the CMO. "Ratchet! What are you doing?" Optimus found his back pressed against the wall of his office.

"What does it look like?" Ratchet jumped at him again.

Optimus rolled out of the way and managed to get to the center of the room, trying to put distance between him and the CMO. He could overpower Ratchet, but what the slag was wrong with him?

_Well, jumpin' ya is kind a good sign._

_He'll also start acting rather seductive. Believe it or not, my carrier can be seductive when he wants to be. He'll also do things such lightly touching your armor or sidling closer than normal._

Oh, slag it to the Pit and back! Ratchet's protocols had targeted him as the potential sire to spark him! Of all the fragging mechs on the fragging planet, he had to choose him!

"Come on, Optimus. I think you need a check-up." Ratchet purred, hands on the desk.

Optimus froze, shocked at just how that low, husky voice made that sound just so fragging seductive!

Ratchet launched himself over the desk at the Prime.

Optimus finally made his legs move. He turned and hightailed it out of his office, darting down the hall as fast as his legs would carry him.

Jazz and Prowl were walking down the hall.

"Move!" Optimus shouted.

The tactician and the saboteur quickly dove to the slide, slamming into the wall and putting cracks in the reinforced steel as their Prime ran at full speed down the hall.

"What the hell's wrong with 'im?" Jazz asked.

"Do you think his programming is faulty or that he has a virus?" Prowl asked.

"Don't know. Ask ya carrier. He's the doc." Jazz glanced down the hall. "Oh. There he comes."

"Optimus! Come back!"

Jazz and Prowl watched in stunned shock as Ratchet ran down the hall after the Prime.

"Well, I think we know who ya carrier wants to spark him." Jazz said as a grin spread across his faceplates.

"Indeed. Well, you certainly could not have a better sire for a sparkling than a Prime. It makes sense though. Optimus, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Skyfire, Perceptor, and Beachcomber are his oldest friends. He would only trust ones of them to spark him. All are bonded save for Optimus."

"Looks like Prime's decided to run instead of 'face him." Jazz stated.

"Well, we have more work then. Prime will spend more time running than he will working." Prowl remarked.

"Yeah." Jazz snickered. "Think Prime'll end up giving in?"

"I do not know. It will be interesting to see how this turns out." Prowl mused.

* * *

><p>Optimus peered out from around the building he was hiding behind. He released a vent of relieved air. He had finally lost Ratchet after running from him for almost two joor. He had received several shocked and curious looks from humans and Autobots alike. He'd have to get Prowl to explain the situation.<p>

Why of all the mechs on base he was the one who Ratchet settled on was beyond him. Sure he was an un-bonded sire, and he wasn't in a relationship with anyone, but still! This was too much! He was their leader! He had work he needed to get done.

It wasn't as if interfacing with Ratchet was a terribly appalling idea. In fact, the Prime had had rather erotic dream cycles involving the medic before. But he didn't just want to jump into the berth with him to spark him! That was just plain wrong!

"There you are!"

Optimus jumped and whirled around to face a smirking Ratchet.

"Finally." Ratchet stepped too close.

Optimus hightailed it out of there again. As he ran, he transformed into his vehicle mode and took off in hopes of outrunning the medic.

Unfortunately, Ratchet also transformed and followed him.

:_Prowl!_:

:_Yes, Optimus. What can I do for you?_: Prowl asked in his normal, monotone way.

:_Prowl, Ratchet has picked me to spark him! What do I do?_: Optimus was close to panicking now.

:_Well, sir, there are a few options you may take. One, you can simply take him to your berth and interface with him to spark him. Two, you can spend the next six groon running from Ratchet. Three, you can surrender to the Decepticons to get away._: Prowl said.

:_Prowl! I'm not joking!_: Optimus snapped as he pushed himself to full speed as no humans were around.

:_Nor was I. Those are the same options I gave Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. They are really the only options._: Prowl stated.

:_Slag it, Prowl! I can't spend six groon running, I don't want to spark him, and I am __**NOT **__surrendering to Megatron!_: Optimus snarled

:_I am sorry, sir, but his mating cycle cannot be turned off. However, Jazz and I will pick up the slack as far as your work goes if you intend to run._: Prowl said.

:_PROWL!_: Optimus roared.

:_Sir, you have the options. You need to choose the course of action that you prefer and go with that. Jazz and I will aid with your work until you decide._: Prowl then cut the line.

Optimus cursed Prowl. That was not what he was hoping for! He was hoping that the tactician would help him! That wasn't help!

Ratchet was starting to close in on him.

Primus save him from the CMO!

* * *

><p>Epps was standing in for Lennox while he was away on his vacation as heading up NEST. While there were officers superior in rank to him, there were no other officers on the base who had the experience that Epps did with the Autobots. It was only natural the man at least be the one in charge of dealing with Autobots problems until the Colonel returned to his duties.<p>

Since first meeting the Autobots, Epps had seen a lot of things. He had seen seemingly normal vehicles transform into sentient alien robots. He had seen clashes with other bots that seemed like something right out of a sci-fi movie. He had seen them hit targets that were too far away for Epps to even see. He had even seen some like Jazz take down a Decepticon three times his size and weight. He had also seen others go into a full-blown rage on the battle and started firing even after the Decepticon was dead, like Ironhide.

However, the one thing that Epps had never seen was Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, being chased by Ratchet, the CMO. That one had startled him, and he could do little but stare after them oddly as the two disappeared from view.

What the hell was that about?

A young soldier was near him. "Sergeant?"

"Yes, Private?" Epps asked, still in shock.

"That was Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader, right?" the soldier asked.

"Uh-huh." Epps answered.

"And that was Ratchet, their CMO, right?" the soldier continued.

"Yep." Epps wasn't sure where this was going.

"And Optimus Prime was being chased by said CMO?" the soldier asked.

"What it looked like." Epps answered.

"Is that normal?" the solider asked.

"Not by a long shot. Excuse me." Epps turned and walked toward the Autobots hanger where he found Elita, Chromia, and Jolt. "What wrong with Prime and Ratchet?"

"I don't know what you mean." Elita was a bit confused.

"Well, I just saw Optimus being chased through the base by Ratchet. Not normal." Epps explained.

Elita and Chromia burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Looks like Prime's the one Ratchet has targeted." Elita chuckled.

"I don't get it." Jolt murmured.

"Ratchet's Praxian mating protocols." Chromia clarified.

Jolt had been warned about that, and the apprentice to the CMO started laughing as understanding filtered in as he remembered just what those protocols did to the medic.

"Could ya explain it to me so I know just why Optimus was running? I've never seen him run like that. At least not away from someone." Epps stated.

"Sergeant, why don't you go to Prowl's office and ask him? He could explain it better than we can." Elita told him.

"Sure thing." Epps turned and headed off to do as the femme commander had suggested, hoping that he would get some answers to why Optimus and Ratchet were acting like this.

* * *

><p>Epps stared at Prowl from where he was standing on the Autobot SIC's desk. He was having trouble digesting just what he had been told. He glanced over at Jazz, who was grinning like the cat that got to the milk and got away with it. "Is he serious?"<p>

"Very." Jazz replied.

Prowl snorted. "I would not joke of such matters. Mating is a very serious issue, and it is not one I would joke about. Certainly not where my carrier is concerned."

"So, in short, Ratchet wants to have a kid now and wants Optimus to knock him up. Does that about sum it up?" Epps asked.

"In layman's terms, yes." Prowl agreed.

"So, how long will this thing last?" Epps asked.

"Six months in total." Prowl stated.

Epps' eyes widened if such a thing was possible. "Six months? Ratchet's going to chase Optimus for six months?"

"If Optimus would merely give in, take Ratchet to his berth, and spark him, then it would be over much quicker. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are in the process of doing so with Bluestreak as we speak, and Hot Shot is doing the same with Smokescreen. It would all be over within a few weeks if Prime would merely give in." Prowl stated.

"Uh, you realize you're talking about your dad, your brother, and your son getting it on with someone, right?" Epps knew for a fact that he would not have been able to say anything that calmly about his dad or brother, and if he ever had a daughter or son, he couldn't talk about that easily.

"Of course I do, Sergeant Epps. Cybertronians do not find such subjects shameful to discuss openly. Granted, I would never wish to watch my carrier interface with anyone nor would I wish to see my son or brother do so. However, speaking of such is not taboo as in your culture. Young adults often ask a multitude of questions of their creators about such, and we answer them for them. It is not a hard subject for us." Prowl assured him.

"Okay. So, should I be talking to you about the Autobots from now on?" Epps asked.

Jazz laughed. "Let me put it this way, man. If ya don't find Prime in his office or you know Ratchet's chasing him, come ta me or Prowler."

Epps nodded. "So, is there a betting pool yet on if Optimus will give in or not?"

Jazz grinned, loving the suggestion. "Not yet. Wanna start one?"

Epps grinned evilly. "Love to."

Jazz picked up the sergeant and placed him on his shoulder before waltzing out of the office as the two discussed starting a bit.

Prowl sighed at this. Why his bondmate was looking to incur his carrier's wrath was beyond him. After all, if Ratchet ever found out that Jazz had been the one to suggest starting this bet, then Prowl would be searching for a new bondmate.

* * *

><p>Optimus ducked into his quarters in a moment when Ratchet wasn't around before he barricaded the door. No way was he taking a chance that Ratchet might attempt to enter the room while he was in recharge. While the medic might not normally do something like that, under these circumstances, Optimus just wasn't too sure.<p>

Tired from all the running he had done that day, the Prime walked into the berth room before he collapsed on top of his berth rather ungracefully. He was too tired to care about decorum. Besides, he was alone and didn't need to uphold that regal appearance for anyone.

Optimus rolled over so that he was lying in his abdominal plating and released a tired sigh. By the time this was over, he was going to be an expert at dodging things, so Megatron was in trouble.

:_Fun day?_: Elita's teasing voice drifted through the comm link.

:_Shut up, Elita! I am not in the mood!_: Optimus snarled.

:_You're no fun. You do realize that you're going to have to do this for the next six groon since you don't seem to want to drag my brother to berth._: Elita told him.

Optimus groaned. :_Please don't remind me. I'm going to take this one day at a time._:

:_You're going on every last mission that comes up now, aren't you?_: Elita asked.

:_My luck, Megatron's going to decide to back off for a while._: Optimus muttered.

Elita giggled. :_Probably. Good luck. Though I wish you'd give in and make me an aunt again. I'd love that._: She closed off the link before Optimus could say anything.

Optimus sighed before he offlined his optics in an attempt to get some recharge. He'd need all the rest he could get to deal with his CMO chasing him at every astrosecond of every cycle for the next six groon.

* * *

><p>~Present~<p>

That had been one groon ago, and Optimus swore that he was close to taking Prowl's third option. That or joining an actual trucking company to haul human products and hide out until this blasted mating cycle of Ratchet's was over with.

With a vent of frustrated air, Optimus rose to his feet and intended to head back to his office and barricade the door so that he could get some work done.

Sometimes, Optimus wondered if Megatron had some of the problems he had. Like Praxian mating cycles and the like.

The Prime was wary as he walked through the base back toward his office. He had to be on guard at all times or his CMO would end up jumping him.

Optimus never even picked him up on his sensors as the next thing he knew he was on his back with the chartreuse medic on top of him, grinning deviously.

Optimus's optics widened as he realized Ratchet had caught up with him.

"I finally caught you, Optimus. Are you done playing hard to get?" Ratchet asked in seductive tone. "After all, I'm tired with all this foreplay."

Foreplay! This was foreplay to him!

Optimus did the only thing he could think to do. He shoved the medic backwards off of him before he scrambled to his feet, and took off in the direction he had just come.

Ratchet huffed in annoyance before he got back on his feet and charged after the Prime. "Come on, Optimus! Enough playing!" His voice was low and seductive.

And sent wild panic straight through the Prime.

Primus! Why him?

Optimus just kept running with his medic on his heels.

* * *

><p>Jazz and Prowl were sitting on the roof of their quarters as they watched Ratchet chase Optimus through the base.<p>

"So, think Prime'll give up and spark 'im?" Jazz asked.

"I would think you would hope so. You've betted on Optimus breaking and sparking him." Prowl snorted.

Jazz shrugged. "Wanted your thoughts."

Prowl looked thoughtful. "I am not entirely sure. It is rare that one being chased by a mech in the middle of a Praxian mating cycle makes it through the entire cycle before their will breaks. Carrier has been rather persistent this last month. Prime has spent ninety percent of the time running, eight percent recharging, and two percent working. However, Prime seems to have a strong will to avoid this at all costs."

"Don't see why he's runnin'. I mean, we both know he's wanted to frag our medic for a while." Jazz stated.

"Yes, but I don't think he wants to the first time to be because Carrier is under the influence of a Praxian mating cycle. Also, I am not certain that he would want to attempt to have a sparkling with him at the moment, either." Prowl shrugged. "Can't stop the protocols, though. He is either going to have to run for another five groon, or he is going to have to spark him. That or surrender to Megatron." Prowl stated.

"At least First Aid, Jolt, and Percy have managed to take over the medbay since Ratchet spends most of his time chasing out Prime." Jazz stated.

"Yes. It is also good that Smokescreen and Bluestreak have already been sparked. Hot Shot, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker are free for duty." Prowl stated.

"And taunting Prime." Jazz stated.

"Hmm. Indeed." Prowl watched as his carrier continued to chase the Prime and his carrier. "I must admit that the idea of having a sparkling is a good one."

Jazz grinned at Prowl. "Wanna start on making another one?"

Prowl glanced at him. "Is that wise? We might need your skills, Jazz."

"Sure. 'Raj and Bee are great at what they do. They can deal without me for a time. 'Sides, we always said we wanted more sparklings other than Blue. With the war as calm as it is, if you can call this calm, it doesn't seem like a bad idea." Jazz stated.

Prowl had to admit having another sparkling with Jazz did sound like a good idea.

Jazz took Prowl's hand. "Come on, Prowl. Let Prime deal with his stalker. I want mine in my quarters."

Prowl smiled before following Jazz as they entered their quarters again through the sunroof that was their size to start attempting to have another sparkling.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought and if I should continue this.<p>

Also, if you have any ideas for some of the ways Ratchet traps Optimus, let me know! You can PM me or leave it in a review if you have any thoughts!

Don't know why, but I love the idea of Ratchet being Prowl's carrier for some reason, so that may show up in quite a few of my stories.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the support! I wasn't expecting this story to be as popular as it is! Hope you like this chapter!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 2<p>

After spending a month away from the base with his wife and four-year-old daughter, Lennox was more relaxed than he had been in a long while. Chasing Decepticons tended to stress the colonel out, so the relaxation at home had been enjoyable.

Unfortunately, a cranky Weapon's Specialist for a solid month was not quite as enjoyable. Lennox knew that Ironhide was missing having Chromia around, but felt that as the guardian to the Lennox family, he needed to be there with him.

Lennox had decided to let Sarah and Annabelle come back to the base with him for a few weeks. He knew that Sarah wanted to see a bit more of him, and he also knew that Annabelle loved being able to see all the other Autobots as well, especially Bluestreak and Bumblebee.

Since they were out on the dirt road that led to the base, Ironhide was going faster than he should be going, but he didn't care. He just wanted to get back to base and back to his femme.

"Hey, Ironhide! Slow it down, would ya? I'm not in that big of a hurry to get back to the base and back to work." Lennox told him.

Ironhide grunted. "Perhaps you are not eager to get back to base, Colonel, but I am."

"Yeah. Yeah. I know. You want to get back and see Chromia." Lennox said as he waved his hand.

Sarah glanced over at her husband nervously. "Are you sure that he should be going this fast, Will?"

"Don't worry about anything. While a car might be in danger going this fast, Ironhide's no normal truck as you know. He can handle it." Lennox assured him wife.

"Uncle 'Hide, am I going to be able to spend some time with Aunt 'Mia?" Annabelle asked.

Ironhide chuckled. At least he made a sound that passed as a chuckle. "Yes, Anna. You are going to be able to see Chromia. She's looking forward to seeing you for a few weeks."

Sarah smiled. She liked Chromia a lot. She could sit back and complain about her man troubles with Chromia, and Chromia would reciprocate. She also liked how good Chromia was with Annabelle.

Going at the speed he was going, Ironhide soon reached the base. It wasn't long before they were through the gates, and Ironhide was heading for the barracks that served as Lennox's quarters.

Once Ironhide had stopped, Lennox and Sarah both got out of the vehicle and also got Annabelle out. The two then processed to get their bags out of Ironhide so that the Autobot could transform into his bipedal form.

"Anna?" Ironhide asked.

Annabelle turned to look at the black Topkick. "Yes, Uncle 'Hide?"

"Would you please get your toy from the seat?" Ironhide had made the mistake of transforming once while one of Annabelle's dolls was still inside him, and it had ended up stuck in a few gears. It hadn't been fun going to medbay for that. He still wasn't sure which was worse: the medic's laughter at the situation or his painful way of extracting the toy from him.

"Oh, sure!" Annabelle quickly climbed into the cab and got her doll before getting back out and going over to her parents.

Ironhide then transformed back into his bipedal mode, glad to stretch his back struts after remaining in his vehicle mode for so long.

"Come on. Let's get in and get settled. Then I'd better to find Epps and see what I missed." Lennox said to his wide.

"Hey! If it isn't the Lennox clan!" Epps walked toward them with a smile.

Annabelle's eyes lit up at the sight. "Uncle Robby!" She ran toward the man she saw as an uncle considering how close of friends her father was to him.

Epps easily picked the little girl up into his arms and kissed her cheek. "Hey, there, munchkin. Glad to see your Uncle Robby?"

"Sure am!" Annabelle said happily.

Epps chuckled.

"Hey man. How are things here?" Lennox asked.

Epps laughed as he set Annabelle down. "Interesting."

Lennox raised an eyebrow. "Political problems or Autobots problems?"

"Aren't those one in the same?" Epps asked.

"You know what I mean." Lennox retorted.

Epps smirked. "Autobot problems."

Ironhide looked down at the sergeant. "Is it something that I should be informed of?"

"Probably. Honestly thought Prowl would have contacted you and let you know what was going on. Or at least Chromia would have." Epps remarked.

Ironhide didn't like being left in the dark and was planning to give his Prime a piece of his processors for not keeping him up to speed on what was happening on the base.

"Come on, Optimus! Stop running!"

"Slag it, Ratchet! Stop!"

Sarah wasn't happy to hear cursing around her daughter, even if it was Cybertronian words Annabelle wouldn't understand.

The next thing the Lennoxes and Ironhide knew, Optimus came running right past them at full speed with Ratchet hot on his trail.

Lennox, Sarah, and Ironhide just stared in shock after them while Annabelle watched curiously, wondering what was going on.

"Epps, did I just see Ratchet chasing Optimus through the base or do I need an eye exam?" Lennox asked, stunned.

"No. You say Optimus being chased by Ratchet. Been happening for the whole last month." Epps replied as if it was the norm.

Lennox turned to look at his friend, a look of shock on his face. "I've missed a lot, haven't I?"

"Yep." Epps grinned. "Want to hear about it?"

"Please." Lennox couldn't understand why Ratchet would be chasing Optimus as the Prime was one of the few Autobots who actually went to their appointments when the medic demanded they come in for maintenance, so that couldn't be the reason. And the Prime, as far as Lennox knew, never ran from the medic when Ratchet was angry at him. He just took the anger and moved on.

Epps started to tell him bluntly until he remembered that Annabelle was there and didn't need to hear something like that. He leaned up and whispered the problem into Lennox's ear.

Lennox's eyes went wide at that, shocked to the core that **THAT **was what was wrong with the medic.

Ironhide, having super sensitive hearing, heard what Epps said. He processed the fact that Ratchet was chasing Optimus because he was in a mating cycle that led him to want to be sparked and wanted Optimus to spark him before he burst out into a fit of laughter, finding it utterly hilarious that Ratchet was chasing Optimus to get him sparked considering the fact that Optimus had been pining after the medic for the last few stellar cycles.

Sarah glanced over at her husband. "What's wrong, Will?"

"Uh, that's, ah, better left to be explained when we're alone." Lennox answered. He then looked at Epps. "Who do I talk to so I can understand this better?" He figured that Optimus was out of the question at the moment.

"I asked Prowl." Epps replied.

Lennox nodded. This was no not what he had expected to come back to when he returned to the base.

Ironhide continued to chuckle to himself, finding this highly amusing. He would have so much fun teasing Optimus about this later, even if it did end up pissing the Prime off.

"What's wrong with Ratchet? Why was he chasing Optimus?" Annabelle asked innocently.

Epps had to stifle his laughter at the horrified expression that marked Lennox's face at his daughter innocent question. Oh, this day was just getting better and better.

"Well, Anna," Ironhide started.

"'Hide!" Lennox hissed, ready to kill the Weapon's Specialist for daring to explain this to his daughter.

Sarah looked at Lennox, wondering what was going on that had Lennox not wanting Ironhide to explain it to Annabelle. Surely it could not be that bad.

"Ratchet wants to play a game with Optimus, and Optimus doesn't want to play. Ratchet's chasing him trying to get him to agree." Ironhide said, explaining it in an un-horrifying way.

"Can we play with him?" Annabelle asked.

Lennox choked on that while Epps killed himself laughing.

Sarah was starting to get an idea of just where this was going.

"I'm afraid not, Anna. Only adult Autobots would play this kind of game, sweetspark." Ironhide said.

"Could you play with him?" Annabelle asked, still innocent.

Epps fell to the ground holding his stomach as he laughed so hard his stomach started hurting while enjoying the horrified way Lennox and Sarah were staring at their daughter and then up at the Weapon's Specialist. This was just getting better and better. Almost as funny as when Ratchet managed to pin Optimus down in the rec room the other day before the Prime managed to get away and get out of the room.

Lennox and Sarah were far too horrified at what their daughter was asking to even consider how funny this might seem. Both also had forgotten that their daughter was asking innocent questions and didn't really have any clue what she was asking about. She thought Ratchet really wanted to play a game.

Ironhide did find the amusement in that, though he was a bit disgruntled at the fact that Annabelle was referring to him interfacing with Ratchet, even if she didn't know it. Ironhide considered Ratchet a good friend and a brother, but not a lover. He'd leave that to Chromia. "I'm afraid not, Anna. You see, Ratchet would prefer to play this game with Optimus."

"Oh. Okay." Annabelle then made her way into her father's quarters, satisfied with the answers she had gotten.

"Oh. My. God." Sarah groaned.

"I need alcohol." Lennox glanced in the direction that Ratchet and Optimus had disappeared in. "About ten bottles of scotch, ten bottles of vodka, and ten bottles of bourbon. That might make me feel better. No less."

Epps finally controlled his laughing and managed to stand. "You know, I don't think I've laughed this much in my entire life than since this started. Ratchet chasing Optimus is so funny. And the best part is that we're getting most of this on the security cameras."

Ironhide snickered, making a mental note to hack into the security feed to watch it. Or ask Chromia to send her a vid of it. He was rather certain she had already hacked in. If not, Jazz was sure to have plenty of footage for him to enjoy.

* * *

><p>"MOVE IT!" Optimus shouted at Bumblebee, Skids, Mudflap, and Jolt.<p>

All three mechs darted out of the way as their leader went careening past them. All three watched in amusement as the Prime rounded the corner.

Ratchet then came flying past them and rounded the corner after Optimus.

"Man, dis is so funny!" Skids cackled.

"So, when the boss gonna stop runnin'?" Mudflap asked.

Jolt chuckled. "If it was up to him, never. He really doesn't want to spark Ratchet, although after a groon of running from him, it's possible that his resistance is going to eventually wear down."

Bumblebee glanced over at his friend. "So, what's your take on what'll end up happening? Or did you get in on the betting pool?"

"Who **hasn't **gotten in on the betting pool? Other than Ironhide, anyway. I said he'd end up breaking by the fourth groon." Jolt stated.

"Yeah. Sunstreaker already lost. He said before the first month was up." Bumblebee added.

"So, what we do now?" Skids asked.

"Get back to inventory. Prowl's going to have our afts if we don't get this done by the time he asked. And I don't want to face him mad." Bumblebee replied.

The four bots went to get back to their work.

* * *

><p>Optimus continued to run, glancing back every so often to see if the medic was still chasing him. Every time, he saw the chartreuse medic following him.<p>

Slag it! He spent ninety percent of his day running from the medic. He had never run from Ratchet before. Sure he cringed, ducked, and cowered from the medic's temper and his wrenches, but he never ran from him like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. And he never back-talked him to get a wrench to the helm like Ironhide. But one thing that he had never done before was actually run from the medic.

Until now.

Optimus was slowly running out of power, which meant he was going to have to find some way to sneak past the medic into the rec room or his quarters to get some energon just so he wouldn't be caught so weak from running that Ratchet managed to get him. He already been surprised by the medic a few times, and that wasn't fun at all.

:_Prowl?_: Optimus had to ask him something.

:_No, sir. I can't help you with my carrier. I have already recited the options to you one thousand two hundred and seventy two times. There is nothing that can be done. At least by me._: Prowl answered, not even bothering with hearing his Prime's question.

:_Not what I'm asking about. Why is it that he never seems to run out of energy?_: Optimus asked.

:_Oh. The mating cycles gives them increased energy. It's like he has twice the energy he normally would have. Drinking half a cube of energon by a Praxian in the middle of the mating cycle gives him the same amount of energy that you have from a whole cube._: Prowl answered.

:_Slag it, Prowl! Why didn't you tell me this sooner?_: Optimus had never cursed nor snarled this much at any bot other than Megatron in his entire existence, but he was close to simply strangling the life out of his SIC simply because he was pissing him off.

:_You never asked before, sir. I don't go into mating cycles, so I don't always remember the right information to tell you. Or at least remember to tell you everything._: Prowl replied.

:_Thanks a lot._: Optimus then shut the link as he rounded another corner. Finding the area full of large crates, Optimus dashed through the maze of crates, zigzagging through and finally finding a place to hide from the medic. He sat down and started praying that Ratchet wouldn't find him.

As the Prime sat there and tried to conserve what little energy he had left, he could hear the CMO moving through the crates. He cringed as he feared that he wouldn't be able to make it away from Ratchet again. Not until he got some energon. He made a mental note to store a few cubes in his subspace for the remainder of this mating cycle until Ratchet actually was back to his normal self.

"Oh, Optimus. Where are you?" Ratchet's voice seemed to remain seductive since this whole thing started.

The Prime cringed and immediately cursed his own circuitry as it started to heat up. He could admit that he wanted Ratchet. Had no shame in that fact. No reason to be ashamed of the fact that he found the CMO so desirable.

But there was no way in the Pit that the Prime wanted to be with the medic because he was in the middle of a mating cycle. No, that was just wrong to the Prime.

At this moment, Optimus just hoped that Ratchet would think he went on and leave him be. At least for now.

After what seemed like an eternity to the Prime, he heard Ratchet sigh and froze when he realized that the medic couldn't have been more than ten feet away from him. He relaxed when he heard the sound of Ratchet walking away, muttering to himself. After sitting there for fifteen kliks to make sure that Ratchet had really gone, Optimus slowly rose up and peered around the area to double check on the fact that Ratchet was really not around before Optimus made his way out and back toward the main part of the base where he would find the rec room.

After all, the Prime needed to get some energon into his systems if he wanted to keep outrunning Ratchet, and the rec room was closer than his quarters.

* * *

><p>"Okay. So, in short, Praxians have a time period where they want to have kids and now Ratchet is after Optimus to get him pregnant?" Lennox asked.<p>

"Indeed. It is present in all Praxian carriers. Bluestreak and Smokescreen were both affected as well, though they are already sparked. Which leaves Ratchet chasing Optimus until he either decides to give in to Ratchet or until the cycle ends." Prowl stated.

Lennox felt a headache coming on. "And this started now why?"

"When one Praxian enters the mating cycle, any Praxian near them do as well. Smokescreen went into the mating cycle first, which was inevitably followed by Bluestreak and Ratchet." Prowl explained.

Sarah frowned. "I thought Praxians had doorwings, though. Ratchet doesn't possess those."

"That's because doorwings only go to pure bred Praxians. My carrier's creators were not both Praxian. My grand-sire was Praxian, and my grand-carrier was Polyhexian, like Jazz. As such, my carrier and Wheeljack, his twin brother, both ended up with Polyhexian and Praxian coding. My own sire," Prowl spoke the word with disdain, "was a Praxian, so Smokescreen and I ended up being purebred Praxians, which is why we both have the doorwings. Only half of my carrier's coding is Praxian, which is why he does not possess doorwings, although he does carry some Praxian tendencies, like the mating cycle."

"So, uh, how long is this thing? And what else can we expect?" Lennox asked.

"It will last a total of six months, though one has already passed, so another five. Mostly, it will consist of Ratchet chasing Optimus in an attempt to get him to spark him. Of course, as time wears on, Ratchet will become much more aggressive in his attempts to get Optimus. He is not a danger to anyone unless they attempt to stop him from getting Optimus. Interfering with a Praxian in a mating cycle is not a healthy move. They are aggressive during this time, so anyone trying to interfere with their mating tends to be in danger. Other than that, no danger at all." Prowl replied.

Lennox nodded, feeling that headache getting worse.

Jazz, who had been in the office the entire time, grinned at the colonel and his wife. "So, either of you want to join in on the betting pool?"

"Betting pool?" Sarah repeated.

"Sure. Ya just place a bet on whether you think that Optimus will give in or not. If yes, you say which month ya think he'll surrender in." Jazz answered.

Lennox started to protest.

Sarah looked thoughtful. "So, can I get in on this?"

"Sarah!" Lennox was shocked that his wife was actually thinking about getting involved in this.

"What?" Sarah glanced over at her husband. "It's a harmless bet. No big loss if we lose."

"Yeah. What do ya think?" Jazz asked.

"Put me down for Optimus will by the third month." Sarah answered.

"Sure thing." Jazz answered cheerfully.

Prowl glared at Jazz.

"Don't look at meh like that, Prowler! You even placed a bet yourself!" Jazz countered.

"You did?" Lennox thought that Prowl would never do something like that as long as he existed. The tactician just seemed to have a disdain for betting of any kind.

"I do occasionally join the bets if they are not ludicrous. This was one that I thought I would join." Prowl stated.

Lennox nearly choked. "You're betting on whether your own father is going to get any or not!" he was utterly horrified.

"Yes. As I told Sergeant Epps, it is not taboo in our culture to speak freely of such aspects of our lives. We aren't ashamed by it. It's a part of who we are, so we have absolutely no reason to fear speaking of it." Prowl answered as calmly as ever.

Lennox really needed to get into his liquor cabinet and down every drop of alcohol he had. Maybe that would help.

* * *

><p>Optimus dreaded going to the rec room partly because he didn't know if Ratchet would be there waiting to pounce on him or if the other Autobots on the base had plans to tease him about the fact that he was the one that Ratchet had targeted as the potential sire of his sparkling.<p>

Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, Jolt, Arcee, Cliffjumper, Mirage, and Bumblebee were in the rec room along with some of their human companions, including Epps.

Optimus ignored everyone in the rec room. He normally wouldn't be so rude to anyone, but he was not in a good mood, and he thought that this was the best way to deal with it. Besides, he planned to get energon and then barricade himself in his office until time to go to his quarters to recharge.

Sunstreaker smirked.

Bluestreak noticed this. :**Sunny, can't you leave him alone?**:

:**No. This is too good to pass up.**: Sunstreaker replied.

:**But he's the Prime.**: Bluestreak protested.

:**Yeah. So?**:

Bluestreak had no answer. He knew that when Sunstreaker decided to do something, there was no stopping him. He resigned himself to the fact that Sunstreaker would be back in the brig soon. Oh, well. As long as Sideswipe wasn't thrown in there, too, at least he wouldn't be alone.

"Hey, Prime. Getting enough exercise?"Sunstreaker asked.

Optimus turned a glare that was in the running for being on par with Ratchet's most lethal glare onto Sunstreaker. He was so **NOT **in the mood to deal with Sunstreaker and his teasing.

"Sorry. Just noticed you running a lot. Is Ratchet making you get the exercise you don't get sitting behind a desk?" Sunstreaker asked.

Optimus barely restrained a growl, though he was close to not caring about dignity and doing so.

Epps decided to join in on the mischief. "I don't know, Sunstreaker. Maybe he's getting a bit too much exercise. Ratchet did tackle him in here the other day."

Optimus turned his glare to the sergeant, who remained unfazed by it.

Arcee, normally dignified, couldn't help but get in on the fun. "Hey, Ratchet."

Optimus let out a surprised yelp before whirling around, nearly dropping his cube in the process in fear that Ratchet had tracked him down.

No one was there.

That did it.

Everyone in the room, bot and human alike, burst out into a fit of laughter. They all found it funny that the Prime was so terrified of the medic that he would act like this.

Optimus did release a growl this time, glaring harshly at Arcee.

"And we all wondered why Ratchet would want him. He and Ratchet are more alike than we thought with that glare and those growls." Sunstreaker pointed out.

"One more word, Sunstreaker, and I swear that I am going to throw you in the brig, and I am going to keep you there until your own creation is an adult!" Optimus snapped, seriously not in the mood to deal with the vain bot's teasing. Not after the day he had had.

Sunstreaker noticed something before he smirked. "May I say one more thing, sir?"

"What?" Optimus was exasperated at this point and just wanted the yellow mech to shut the slag up.

"Ratchet's heading this way." Sunstreaker stated.

Optimus snorted. "I am not falling for that again."

Bumblebee noticed that Ratchet really was heading this way. "Prime, Ratchet really is coming this way."

Optimus didn't believe him. "You, too, Bumblebee."

Bumblebee shook his head frantically. "No, sir. He's really coming."

Optimus already felt like a fool after believing it once today already, so he was most definitely not falling for something like that again.

Unfortunately for Optimus, he picked a bad time not believe it since Ratchet really was stalking toward the rec room.

Bluestreak knew all too well what mating protocols did to a mech. He knew that anyone who got between them would be in danger. "Bee, get the humans out."

Bumblebee nodded before he hurried around to get the humans out the human sized door on the side of the rec room furthest from Optimus since that was the direction that the CMO was no doubt heading in.

The humans had noticed that this wasn't something to be taken lightly as the normally careful CMO would probably not notice them in this state, so they wisely moved toward the door, though stayed where they could see the action. Not one of them wanted to miss this.

Optimus had just finished the cube of energon, relieved to have some fuel in his systems after spending the entire day running his energy out from running away from Ratchet when it happened. Again. He found himself standing one second and was on his back the next second with a lust-driven medic straddling him.

"Hi, Optimus." Ratchet purred.

Optimus felt pure panic spread through him at this. "Ratchet!" The squeak that escaped him was purely undignified and certainly not something that should be coming from a Prime, but he wasn't sure any Prime had ever found themselves in the situation he was in.

"I finally caught up with you. You're hard to track down at times." Ratchet smirked at the Prime, making the Prime even more panicked. "Though you're mine now."

The bots and humans weren't sure if they should be amused or horrified to see the normally reserved CMO acting like this. Most settled on amused as they barely held off their snickers for fear that they might turn Ratchet's aggressive attention onto them.

Optimus went into an even greater panic. He did the only thing that he had the chance to do at the moment. Using his greater strength, he shoved Ratchet backwards, trying to get the medic off of him.

Ratchet fell backwards into a table, causing the table to crack along with the concrete floor.

Optimus didn't even have time to feel guilty at the fact that he could have hurt Ratchet since he used more strength than he had originally planned to. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door, shoving Ironhide out of his way in the process.

"Hey! What the matter with you, Prime!" Ironhide snarled. He glared after the running Prime.

"Ironhide! Move!" Bluestreak shouted.

Ironhide turned to find Ratchet heading his way. He instantly jumped to the side out of the way, not wanting to be on the wrong end of a Praxian in their mating cycle.

Ratchet rushed passed him, chasing after the Prime.

Ironhide watched in amusement as his Prime ran. He had never seen Optimus run from anything before in his life, and seeing him run from Ratchet was funny to the Weapon's Specialist. He walked into the rec room with an evil grin on his faceplates. "I have missed a lot of fun moments in the last groon."

"Yeah. You have." Sideswipe agreed from where he sat by Bluestreak on the couch.

Jolt had gone over to pick up the reminders of the table that had been broken.

Ironhide looked at the table curiously. "What did they do? Break it?"

"Yeah. Ratchet broke it when he fell on it." Bumblebee said.

"Technically speaking, Optimus was the one who broke the table. He shoved Ratchet backwards onto the table to get away." Arcee said.

Ironhide shook his head. "Didn't hurt Ratchet, did he?"

"I don't think so. Ratchet got up pretty easy." Mirage answered.

Ironhide nodded. He wondered if Optimus knew that he would be able to get Ratchet off his back a lot faster if he would simply give in to Ratchet and spark him. Sure, they'd have a sparkling together, but at least Ratchet would be normal again, and the Prime wouldn't have to run from the medic any longer.

Oh, well. Wasn't really his problem as long as neither of them got hurt.

* * *

><p>Optimus wasn't sure how much more of this insanity he was going to be able to stand. He was constantly on guard of Ratchet suddenly tackling him, and he couldn't really get a moment's rest or peace.<p>

Prowl's suggestion to just take the medic to his berth and sparking him was starting to sound better and better. At least it would all be over.

WHAT WAS HE SAYING!

Optimus shook his helm as he attempted to get those thoughts out of his head. He most definitely did not want the reason he was taking Ratchet to his berth be because he was attempting to spark him. It just wasn't right.

Knowing that he was exhausted, Optimus head for his quarters, praying that Primus would be merciful and Ratchet wouldn't track him down again.

Some recharge should help clear Optimus's processors and get thoughts of giving in to Ratchet out of his processors. He could manage to avoid sparking Ratchet for another five months.

Right?

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought!<p>

Anymore ideas are welcome. I'll try to incorporate all of your ideas.


	3. Chapter 3

Love all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

For Optimus, his life had become the slagging Pit. He spent the majority of his time running away from his CMO. All of his duties had fallen to Prowl and Jazz, considering the fact that Optimus didn't have the time to do them at the moment.

All of the men, women, mechs, and femmes on the base were having a good time laughing, teasing, taunting, and betting on the Prime and the medic. It had become a source of great amusement for them.

Optimus was well-aware of the betting pool and wanted to kill everyone involved in it. For Primus sakes! They had turned his life into a bet!

Optimus shook his helm and forced those thoughts from his processors for the time being. After all, he had more important things to do than plot the murder of every Autobot on the base.

Like seeing his creators whom he had believed dead for a long time.

After the Autobots on Earth received word that there was another Autobot ship headed for Earth, they had become happy.

It became even better for Optimus since he learned that his creators were on the ship.

Optimus, Jazz, Prowl, Ironhide, and Elita were all waiting for the ones on the ship to arrive.

Soon, a shuttle came into view.

Elita's optics lit up. "There's Skyfire!" She was referring to Wheeljack's mate, who was a large shuttle and large enough to carry everyone from the ship to the base without having to land the ship on the base.

Once Optimus's scans confirmed the identity of the Autobot in question, he turned to Ironhide. "Lower the shields."

Ironhide nodded and lowered their protective shields to allow Skyfire inside.

Skyfire picked up on where his Prime was standing and headed for where he was, landing far enough away that the power of his engine would not knock them all down, but close enough that it wouldn't be that far to reach them. He then opened his cargo hold to allow everyone inside out.

Nemesis Prime, Optimus's sire, and Alpha Trion, Optimus's carrier, were the first ones off the ship.

Optimus felt a smile cross his lips, relieved to see his creators again for the first time in too many vorns. He hadn't thought he'd ever see them again, but here they were.

Nemesis and Alpha Trion, for their part, were thankful to see their creation, considering they had heard he was killed by the Fallen.

"You look very good for a mech who should be dead." Nemesis remarked.

"Yes, well, we have our human allies to thank for that, Sire. I'm glad to see you. I thought that you were both dead." Optimus said as he walked over to them. He had intended to keep this dignified, but Alpha Trion had other ideas. He immediately pulled his creation into a hug.

Optimus was startled, but returned it.

While this reunion was happening, Elita looked at the ship. And nearly had spark failure.

Out walked a red mech with splashes of white throughout his armor with a gray chevron and doorwings. Her sire, Swiftwind. And beside him stood a black and chartreuse femme, Starlight. Her carrier.

Elita broke out into a wide grin before sprinting over. "Carrier! Sire!" She threw her arms around her carrier, ignoring propriety. These were her creators, whom she hadn't seen in far too long.

Starlight smiled. "I'm glad to see you as well, Elita. I must say I am very proud of you. Femme commander." She held her daughter tightly.

Elita would have blushed if she had the ability. "Not Ratchet's reputation."

Starlight laughed. "He had that reputation before the war, sweetspark. You know that."

"What happened? We received a report that you were dead." Elita said as she pulled back to look her carrier in the faceplate.

"We escaped with help from Nemesis and Alpha Trion." Swiftwind replied.

Prowl was more than a bit shocked to see his grand-creators there, but was thrilled all the same. He couldn't wait to tell Bluestreak and Smokescreen. Ratchet would be thrilled too. Once the mating cycle ended. He hid a grin. Oh, that was going to be interesting.

"Now stop being stoic, Prowl. That's no way to treat your grand-creators." Starlight admonished.

Prowl ducked his head. He hated breaking protocol.

Jazz snickered before shoving his mate forward toward his grand-creators.

Prowl shot a glare at him that Jazz simply smirked at.

Starlight laughed as she crossed the distance to one of her only grand-creations. "Thank you, Jazz."

"Anytime." Jazz replied.

Prowl sighed, but gave in as he hugged his grand-carrier.

"Everyone seems to be doing well." Swiftwind said, observing everyone who was there at the moment.

"Yes. We all are." Elita agreed.

Wheeljack came off the ship then. "Two family reunions."

Elita smiled. "Hey, Wheeljack." She had known Wheeljack was coming and was glad to see her brother again.

"Hey. So, where's my lab?"

A collective groan escaped the group.

"What? I haven't been able to do any inventing since we left Cybertron. I **need **to invent something." Wheeljack protested.

"Blow it up, you mean." Beachcomber muttered as he came out behind Wheeljack.

With all his passengers on the ground, Skyfire transformed back into his bipedal mode. "Well, it is good to see everyone."

Epps and Lennox headed up in a jeep then. Both stared at Skyfire.

"That is one humongous Autobot." Epps stated.

"Agreed." Lennox added.

"Ah. Colonel. Sergeant. Glad to see you." Optimus said as he turned to face them once he picked up on their signatures.

Nemesis looked curious. "Are these a few of the allies you spoke of?"

"Yes, Sire. They are. Colonel Lennox is the human commander of the base." Optimus answered, motioning to Lennox.

"Nice to meet you." Lennox said.

"And that is Sergeant Epps." Optimus continued, motioning to Epps.

"How ya doing'?" Epps asked.

Optimus motioned to his creators. "This is my sire, Nemesis Prime, and my carrier, Alpha Trion."

"Prime? I thought you were the last Prime." Epps stated, looking up at Optimus with an expression of confusion.

"Yes, well, we had thought my creators to be dead. It was a shock to learn they were alive." Optimus answered.

"And this is my carrier, Starlight, and my sire Swiftwind." Elita motioned to each of her creators. "And that's my brother, Wheeljack, and his mate, Skyfire."

"HI!" Wheeljack greeted them enthusiastically, his head fins lighting up.

"It's nice to meet you both." Skyfire added.

"Yeah, we'll let you know all the warnings concerning Wheeljack later." Ironhide said.

"Warnings?" Lennox echoed.

Ironhide snickered. "Yes. Warnings. You'll understand very soon why we're giving you these warnings."

"Hey! It's not that bad!" Wheeljack retorted.

"Oh, please, 'Jack. Don't fool yourself. It is that bad, and it'll be worse considering the time since you were able to last work on your projects." Beachcomber said. He then looked at the humans. "My designation is Beachcomber."

"Guess Percy's going to be happy." Jazz stated.

"Why is Perceptor going to be happy?" Epps asked.

"Perceptor and I are bondmates, and we haven't seen each other in a very long time." Beachcomber answered.

"So, has anything interesting of late happened?" Nemesis asked.

There were several snickers and knowing smiles from several of them.

"Oh, yeah. Interesting is the word. Right, Optimus?" Epps asked, looking up at the Prime with a grin on his face.

To the surprise of his creators, Optimus gave the sergeant a lethal glare as well as allowed a growl to escape from him.

"Dare I ask?" Alpha Trion asked.

Prowl picked up something on his sensors. He turned and released a sigh. "Optimus."

"What?" Optimus nearly growled the word.

Nemesis frowned, about to reprimand his creation.

"Unless you feel like being jumped, run." Prowl stated.

Optimus glanced at him and saw Prowl pointing. He saw what his SIC was pointing at and froze.

Ratchet was heading for them. More precisely, right for him!

Optimus did the only thing he could. He turned and took off.

"What in the Pit is going on!" Nemesis demanded.

"Yes. Why is he running from Ratchet?" Swiftwind asked.

However, to the surprise of his newly arrived family members, Ratchet ran right past them, obviously chasing the Prime.

Jazz and Elita burst out laughing, Ironhide grinned wickedly, Prowl allowed an amused smile to cross his lips, and Lennox and Epps killed themselves laughing.

"What's up with Ratch? He just ran right past us. He hasn't seen us in vorns, and he thought our creators were dead." Wheeljack stated, blinking in shock as he watched his brother disappear into the distance.

Prowl was the one who answered. "He's in the middle of a Praxian mating cycle, and Optimus is the sire he's chasing."

Realization dawned on them all.

"He does realize that Ratchet will only become more aggressive and forceful as time wears on, right?" Swiftwind asked.

"I have told him. He still chooses to run." Prowl replied.

"Why? It would be over quicker if he just sparked Ratchet. Is the idea that unappealing to him?" Starlight asked, a bit perturbed at the idea of someone being that repulsed by one of her creations.

"That's not it in the least. In fact, in any other situation, Prime would be more than happy to drag Ratchet to his berth. I just don't think he wants the first time he takes him to berth to be because of a mating cycle." Ironhide replied.

"This shall be interesting." Nemesis stated, already feeling amused.

"It already has been." Epps grinned.

"Come. I'll debrief you since Optimus is otherwise occupied. And we can find you all alt forms that are appropriate for this planet." Prowl stated.

The newly arrived Autobots started to follow him.

"Can I assume we'll be given a culture lesson?" Swiftwind asked.

"I shall leave that to Jazz." Prowl replied.

Jazz grinned, intent on truly educating them to the best of his knowledge. Of course, he'd allow them to do their own research on what they wanted to know through the Internet, but he'd inform them of some of the finer points that they needed to know about the humans they lived with.

* * *

><p>Optimus ran through the base for what felt like the one millionth time since this whole mating cycle started. He really wished that someone would at least help him get Ratchet off his back.<p>

Granted, he had tried other methods to make sure that Ratchet left him alone. Such as locking the medic in the brig. That ended up with the brig being completely destroyed when he got out.

Optimus had considered sedating him, but First Aid, Jolt, and Perceptor had all said that they were not going to get near Ratchet with the intention of sedating him. They knew how aggressive Ratchet could be while being his normal self. They didn't wish to have his aggression thrown at them with it worse under the influence of the mating cycle.

So, Optimus was stuck running from Ratchet, and he still had four groon to go as far as running from the CMO went. At least until he returned to normal back to normal. Not a good thing for him.

Optimus rounded a corner and made the decision to head for shooting range. Who cared if there were mechs out there practicing? He needed a way to get away from Ratchet at the moment, and this seemed like the best course of action to take.

Ratchet went right after the Prime, oblivious to the fact that they were running through what could possibly be a dangerous area. All he cared about was getting the Prime.

* * *

><p>Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were out practicing with their weapons.<p>

"Come on, Sunny. You have to have better aim than that." Sideswipe taunted.

Sunstreaker turned a lethal glare onto his twin. "Don't tempt me, Sides! I'll use you for target practice!"

Sideswipe snickered. "Come on. How do you expect to take down a 'Con if you can't even hit the kill zone in a drone?"

Sunstreaker growled.

Bluestreak laughed as he watched his mates bicker. He would admit that Sunstreaker's shot wouldn't kill a 'Con, but it would do severe damage. The Praxian was a sniper. He should know.

"Out of my way!"

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were startled to hear the Prime's sudden shout. They were even more surprised to be roughly shoved out of the way by the much stronger Prime. Both landed hard on the concrete as the Prime barreled past them, running as if Unicron himself was chasing him.

"What in the seven Pits is wrong with him!" Sunstreaker snarled as he got up.

"Yeah. You'd think that Prime would have a bit more courtesy for those smaller than him." Sideswipe grumbled.

Sunstreaker groaned. "My paint is ruined!"

Bluestreak shook his helm at the vainness of his mate before something caught his optic. He turned and his optics widened in horror. "Sideswipe! Sunstreaker! Move!"

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker turned only to find themselves being charged at by a rather menacing looking medic. The next thing the two knew, they were flat on their back, their cheek struts aching from the powerful punches they had received. Both found themselves looking up into Ratchet's angered optics.

"Stay away from him!" Ratchet hissed before resuming his chase.

"What in the name of Primus just happened?" Sideswipe asked weakly.

Bluestreak made his way over to the two. "Praxians in the middle of a mating cycle are aggressive toward anyone who gets in their way. You were in front of him, which to him meant you were trying to stop him from getting to Optimus. He saw you as interfering and reacted according to the mating cycle. He'll attack anyone he thinks is getting in his way, and that includes family. Smokescreen and I won't be attacked because we're sparked and we're carriers. The protocols don't see us a real threat. Anyone else will be mangled. Feel lucky. You could have received a lot worse damage."

"Is that what'll happen to anyone who gets in-between them?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Yes. Right now, Ratchet would take on Megatron himself if he feels that Megatron was getting in-between him and Optimus. Quite honestly, Megatron might get his aft handed to him in the mind-set my grand-carrier is in at the moment." Bluestreak replied.

Sideswipe sighed. "Might as well go see First Aid. We need these injuries taken care of."

"Your paint can wait." Bluestreak stated.

"My paint cannot wait!" Sunstreaker protested.

"I was more referring to our cheek struts." Sideswipe touched his and winced at the pain.

"Probably right about that." Bluestreak agreed.

The two climbed to their feet before they headed for the medbay, although Sideswipe and Sunstreaker vowed then and there that they were not getting between the Prime and the medic again. They'd rather not end up with more injuries than they already had.

* * *

><p>Optimus rounded another corner and froze as he had no idea which way to go. Neither direction offered any way to get away from his stalker. One way he had the personal quarters for all of his officers, but he knew that he wouldn't get any help from them. The other way led to the airstrip. He could see if Skyfire would get him away fast, but he had a feeling that the shuttle wouldn't help him simply because Skyfire would never cross Ratchet under any circumstances.<p>

Optimus's moment of hesitation on choosing a direction cost him as he suddenly found himself on his front with a heavy weight on his back with his arms pinned.

"Got you, Optimus." Ratchet purred.

Optimus very nearly panicked at that. "Ratchet! Stop this!"

"Why would I do that? We haven't even gotten to the fun part yet." Ratchet smirked before leaning closer. "You can't tell me that you don't want to be a creator."

Optimus froze. He wouldn't deny that having a sparkling of his own wasn't a bad idea.

But not like this!

"Ratchet, please! You're not thinking clearly!" Optimus pleaded.

"Oh, I'm thinking very clearly. Orion." Ratchet purred.

Optimus felt a shock of heat course through his circuits at the sound of his true name. It was so fragging arousing! He started to fidget, feeling himself becoming aroused by the mech on top of him.

"You know that you want me. Wouldn't you like to actually remember being with me this time?" Ratchet asked.

Optimus winced. If he didn't get out of this soon, he was so slagged! He wasn't sure he'd be able to resist if he didn't get the medic off of him. Using his greater strength, he was able to twist his wrists free of the medic's grip before twisting his body so that Ratchet lost his balance and fell backwards. Optimus got up and started away, not really choosing a direction. He just ran. Finding himself in the area of his officers quarters, he decided to just duck quickly into one of the buildings using his overrode codes to get in and prayed to Primus that Ratchet wouldn't see him. He dove into the first one he found and quickly locked the door behind him.

Optimus vented heavily from the exertion he had been putting himself through. He had been running for the last two and a half joor. He was getting low on energy. He loathed the fact that because he was being forced to run so much that he was needing to take in more energon than normal, although with Wheeljack on the planet, maybe he could find a way to develop a steady energon supply. If the inventor didn't kill himself in the process. The Prime un-subspaced a cube of energon, which he quickly gulped down.

Optimus hadn't paid attention to **whose **quarters he had ducked into.

"Eager, are we?"

Optimus yelped before he whirled around to find himself facing a wickedly grinning Ratchet. With wide optics, Optimus quickly scanned the quarters and belatedly realized that he had hidden in Ratchet's quarters.

Oh slag!

Ratchet took a step forward. "Glad to see that you finally agree with me."

Optimus backed up, processors racing as he tried to figure a way out of this one.

Ratchet then lunged at the Prime.

Optimus quickly dove to the side out of the way and ended up crashing into a table that had been sitting in the room. The contents of the table ended up scattered everywhere.

"We're alone now, Orion. Why are you still playing hard to get?" Ratchet asked as he moved toward the Prime, his hips swaying in a seductive manner.

Optimus was cursing just how attractive the medic really was. He hated that he was so attracted to the CMO that all he wanted to do was drag the neon green mech into the berth room and frag him senseless.

No! Bad Prime! Not helping!

Optimus slowly edged toward the door, already unlocking them wirelessly with his wireless overrides.

Ratchet lunged at the Prime, and the Prime lunged for the door, praying that he'd be able to get away from the medic soon.

Before his will broke.

* * *

><p>After being given a tour of the base as well as helping the newcomers find alt forms for them to use, the bots went to meet with the other Autobots who were on the planet.<p>

The moment that Bluestreak and Smokescreen saw them, they were on their feet and over to their family members.

"Grand-carrier. Grand-sire. I thought that you were both dead." Smokescreen said even as he hugged Starlight.

Starlight smiled. "We weren't able to get word to anyone that we were alive. Once we heard Optimus's call to come here, we came."

"It's great to see you all again." Bluestreak stated.

"Yes, and it looks like we came at an interesting time. Have you two entered the mating cycle yet?" Swiftwind asked.

"Yep. Already sparked, too. Helps when you're already bonded and got a willing mate." Smokescreen grinned at Hot Shot, who looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Hmm. So Ratchet is the only one still in the middle of it." Swiftwind then glanced over at Prowl. "Just how much longer will it go on?"

"Another four groon." Prowl replied.

"Hmm. Not sure if Optimus will be able to outrun him for that long. After all, Praxians in a mating cycle are very aggressive, and they only become more aggressive as time passes." Swiftwind stated.

Nemesis glanced over at his friend in amusement. "In other words, Orion is in for a lot worse than just being chased."

"Without a doubt. In fact, if he's only this far into the mating cycle, then he hasn't even reached the most aggressive point." Swiftwind replied. He then smirked. "And if as Prowl has stated that Optimus does hold some attraction for Ratchet, then I would guess that he won't be lasting much longer against the mating cycle. The longer it goes, they not only become more aggressive, but also more seductive."

Ironhide smirked. "Oh, this is too good. And the best part is that we have the majority of the chasing on video."

Alpha Trion chuckled. "This I have to see."

Epps looked up at them. "Want to join the betting pool?"

Starlight glanced over at Smokescreen and Jazz. "So, which one of you decided to start the betting pool?"

"That would be me!" Jazz was unashamed of the fact that he was the one who started the betting pool. "Smokey was too busy getting sparked to start one."

Smokescreen shrugged. "It's going to get interesting, though."

"Hmm. I believe joining in on this wouldn't be a bad idea." Nemesis stated.

Elita laughed. "Once Optimus finds out his own creators joined the betting pool, he's going to suffer a processor crash. That or get even angrier. He's already been angry at all of us for the laughing, the taunts, and the betting."

"I just hope no one has taunted Ratchet." Starlight stated.

"Indeed. That would be a fool's bet. Praxians in a mating cycle will attack anyone, and I mean **anyone **who they feel is getting in their way." Swiftwind stated.

"I can couch for that." an unhappy Sunstreaker stated.

All optics and eyes turned to see Sideswipe and Sunstreaker entering the rec room.

"Did First Aid fix it?" Bluestreak asked.

"Yes." Sunstreaker replied.

"What happened?" Prowl asked.

"Optimus shoved the out of the way as he was running, and they accidently got in front of Ratchet. They both ended up with broken cheek struts." Bluestreak explained.

Sideswipe rubbed his repaired cheek. "Yeah. Why does the doc use wrenches to deal with us anyway? I think his fists would do nicely."

"Perhaps we should make is a rule now that you stay out of a Praxian's way while in a mating cycle." Prowl mused.

Jazz grinned. "All but Optimus. He'll need to be in the way."

Everyone else laughed at that.

* * *

><p>Optimus leaned back against the wall as he vented harshly from the energy he had exerted in fighting Ratchet off. He would <strong>NEVER <strong>make the mistake of ducking into the medic's quarters while Ratchet was chasing him again.

The Prime reached up and rubbed his sore shoulder from how hard Ratchet had grabbed him. The paint of his armor had been scratched up, and if he had been anything like Sunstreaker, he would have been complaining about the way it looked. He also had several dents from the wrestling match he had just had with Ratchet.

Optimus shook his helm. This was getting dangerous for him. The Prime had never seen the medic this aggressive in anything.

"What happened to you?"

Optimus jumped before whirling around to find himself facing Chromia.

The femme surveyed the damage to the Prime and came to the conclusion that either a Decepticon had gotten the drop on the Prime, or the Prime had been caught by Ratchet. "So, 'Con or Ratchet?"

Optimus groaned. "Ratchet."

Chromia smirked. "So, the great Optimus Prime was bested by our little medic?"

Optimus glared at her. "Don't cross me, Chromia. I am not in the mood."

"Hmm. You're not the mood for most things. So tell me? What's so bad about dragging Ratchet to the berth? Most of the Autobots know that you've wanted him for a while. Why not save yourself a lot of trouble and take the medic already?" Chromia asked.

"Because I don't want to spark him. Honestly, Chromia! I'm not going to drag a mech to berth just to spark them." Optimus told her.

"Prime, from the looks of it, you're not doing too well on avoiding him." Chromia stated.

Optimus shifted his weight to one foot. "Yeah, well, kind of my fault." He looked embarrassed. Or as embarrassed as an Autobot could look. "I was trying to get away and ducked into one of the officer's quarters. Turned out I ducked into Ratchet's."

Chromia stared at him for a moment before bursting out into a fit of laughter.

Optimus growled. "Ironhide's mate or not, shut up before I make you!"

"If the point was to get away from him, why duck in his quarters?" Chromia asked, still chuckling.

"Because I didn't pay attention to whose quarters I ducked into." Optimus replied.

"Next time, pay attention if you don't want Ratchet to get his hands on you." Chromia shook her helm. "You're going to need your armor fixed."

"No real damage. Just scratched paint and dents. Nothing unusual." Optimus replied.

"In any case, Prowl took care of the newcomers. Not how you wanted to greet your creators, I suppose." Chromia stated.

"No." Optimus frowned. "They must think that I have lost my processors."

"No. Prowl explained it to them." Chromia got a mischievous smirk on her face. "I'm certain that they wouldn't mind having a grand-creation of their own."

Optimus glared at her. "This is serious!"

"Yes, I know. I don't see what the big deal is." Chromia stated.

Optimus sighed. "Chromia, what is so hard to believe about the fact that I don't want to drag Ratchet to the berth just to spark him? You'll forgive me if I sound a bit old fashioned, but I would much prefer to be in a relationship and bonded to a bot before I had a sparkling with them."

"I'm just saying that it would be easier this way. But if you don't want to be caught, I suggest you run." Chromia stated.

"I have been running." Optimus retorted.

"I mean run now." Chromia pointed behind him.

Optimus didn't even bother looking back. He just took off.

Chromia backed up until she was flat against the wall behind her, not wanting to get in Ratchet's way.

The chartreuse medic ran right past her chasing after the Prime.

Chromia watched as the chartreuse medic disappeared from view before she shook her helm. She didn't know why the Prime insisted on running. She had heard that Praxians only became more aggressive and determined as time went on. She could see the medic getting more and more aggressive given his personality. She thought that Optimus would be better off giving up already.

* * *

><p>Optimus rounded a corner for what felt like the millionth time in the last two groon before coming to a stop. He used his sensors and wasn't able to pick up on Ratchet's signal anywhere. He was relieved at that. Maybe he had lost the medic for the time being.<p>

The Prime leaned against the side of a building, venting heavily as he attempted to conserve what energy he had left. He still had one cube of energon left in his subspace, but he figured that he had better hold off on taking it in so that he could have it when he was in desperate need of an energy boost.

Optimus contemplated tracking down his creators and seeing if he couldn't spend some time with them, though he was rather certain that his CMO would track him down and start attempting to seduce him once again. He had to admit that Ratchet was rather good at acting seductive when he wanted to.

The Prime shook his helm as he attempted to force those thoughts from his processors. Thinking about how seductive Ratchet was wasn't going to help him keep calm. He needed to keep his circuits cool, and to do that, the last thing he needed to do was think about Ratchet's seduction attempts.

Moving away from the wall, the Prime considered heading to his office or his quarters. He needed to try to get some rest so that he would have the energy to run from Ratchet. He'd rest easier in his quarters, but his office was closer from his current position, so he made his way for his office.

"Hey, Prime. Having fun?" Ironhide asked good-naturedly as he started walking with the Prime.

Optimus cast a glare at his Weapon's Specialist. "What do you think?"

"I'd say no. After all, the only way that you would be able to have fun would be if you took Ratchet to the berth. Then you could have a lot of fun."

Optimus's glare intensified on the Weapon's Specialist. "This isn't funny!"

Ironhide grinned at the growled words. "I find it funny. Not often I see you running from anything, much less Hatchet."

"You would too if he wanted you to spark him." Optimus retorted.

"I'm already bonded, so I don't have to worry about that." Ironhide decided to tease him even further. "If you can escape Ratchet, would you like to join us for a movie tonight?"

Optimus rarely managed to escape Ratchet for very long, and even when he managed to, he usually spend the rest of the time recharging. "What's playing?"

"Oh, a good chase movie." Ironhide grinned. "Staring you."

Optimus stopped before he whirled around to face his maliciously grinning Weapon's Specialist. "That is not funny!" Optimus was tired of everyone getting a good laugh at his expense. This was not a funny situation. At all.

"Oh, it's funny to us. And I'm not joking. Swiftwind and Nemesis Prime want to see it." Ironhide said.

Optimus groaned. Why did his own sire want to get a good laugh at his torment? "When this is over, I am putting everyone on double duty!" The Prime then stormed off to his office.

Ironhide snickered. He wondered if he should have told the Prime that he saw Ratchet sneaking into his office. Oh, well. The Prime would find that out soon enough.

* * *

><p>Optimus cautiously walked to his office. He wanted to make sure that Ratchet didn't see him enter his office so that the medic wouldn't come in and trap him. He had already been trapped once that day. He didn't want to go for twice in one day.<p>

The office was dimly lit as the light was turned off.

Optimus didn't even bother turning on the light. All he intended to do was get some rest so that he could be ready to run the next time he had a run-in with the CMO. He headed for his desk.

Unnoticed by the Prime, a shadow moved behind him.

Ratchet grinned as he had finally managed to corner his Prime again. He really wished that he would stop playing hard to get. He really just wanted to get right to business and interface with Optimus already.

Optimus made it to his chair before he yelped as he suddenly found himself tackled and landed flat on his abdominal plating. There wasn't a doubt in his processors as to who it was that had tackled. When he was suddenly flipped over and his wrists pinned to the floor, he found himself staring up into his CMO's grinning face.

"Caught you." Ratchet purred.

Optimus cringed back. "Ratchet! Stop! You're not yourself!"

"Oh, I'm more than myself. Why don't you stop running and just 'face me already? I know that you want to." Ratchet said.

"Ratchet, please!" Optimus didn't know how much longer his resolve would last at the rate he was going. "You've got-humph!"

The Prime's words were cut off as Ratchet suddenly leaned down and pressed his lips to Optimus's, effectively silencing him. Ratchet easily slipped his glossa into the Prime's mouth, searching around his mouth.

Optimus couldn't stop the moan that escaped him. Primus, it felt good! He wanted this mech. Badly. Had wanted him again since that first time. Not that he remembered much about it.

Ratchet, sensing that Optimus wasn't going to fight, released his wrists before he started to trail his hands down the Prime's arms.

Optimus groaned into the kiss. He reached up and wrapped one arm around Ratchet's shoulders before bringing his other hand up and placed it behind Ratchet's helm before pressing the medic closer.

Ratchet moaned into the kiss as he allowed Optimus to slip his glossa into the medic's mouth, enjoying the feel of the Prime exploring his mouth.

Optimus slowly becoming lost in the feel of the kiss. He vaguely remembered what kissing Ratchet was like from before, but this was incredible! He wanted more. He allowed one hand to trail down the medic's back, enjoying the surprised groan that brought from the medic.

Ratchet was rather certain that he had finally won this game. He just wanted the Prime to get to the main part.

Finally, Optimus's logic circuits took back over, and he realized what he was allowing to happen. He forcefully stopped the kiss. "Ratchet, no! We can't do this!"

Ratchet sighed. "Optimus, aren't you tired of this little game of yours yet? You know that you want me." The medic leaned down closer to the Prime. "And you can have me."

Those words were like liquid fire to the Prime's circuits. It took all his willpower not to slam the medic onto his back and just take him.

But he still retained his self-control as he forced Ratchet off of him and backed away from the medic. "Ratchet, you're not thinking clearly. This is the mating cycle talking."

"Oh, I'm thinking clearly, Optimus. And I know that I want you to be the one to spark me." The medic moved closer.

Optimus realized that it was either give in to Ratchet or get the hell out of dodge.

He chose the second option and made a mad dash for the door.

Ratchet tried to intercept him, but Optimus, being the warrior between the two of them, easily dodged the medic and got out the door with Ratchet right on his heels.

Down the hall, Nemesis, Alpha Trion, Swiftwind, and Starlight had been walking and looked up to see the red and blue Prime heading right for them. On instinct, Nemesis and Swiftwind grabbed their mates before each jumped out of the way, flattening themselves against the wall as Optimus ran past. A moment later, Ratchet ran past them as well.

Nemesis had an amused look on his face. "It would seem that we have missed quite a few humorous moments."

Swiftwind grinned. "I'm sure we'll see more."

"Can't you two find something better to do than find your entertainment at Optimus's expense?" Starlight asked.

"No." the two replied.

Alpha Trion sighed. "You can see why they are best friends."

"Indeed." Starlight agreed.

* * *

><p>By the time Optimus managed to retreat to his quarters, he was practically dead on his feet. He grabbed a cube of energon from the dispenser in his quarters before he downed it quickly. He then headed for his berth room, where he collapsed.<p>

What a day! He had been cornered by the medic twice! And he had nearly given in to him the second time!

Optimus shook his helm. He needed this to be over with fast so that he wouldn't be tempted by the medic. Primus knew that if Ratchet had given him the option while not on the mating cycle, the Prime would have taken him to the berth in an instant.

As it was, the Prime had to run from him.

Maybe he'd get lucky, and Megatron would lead an all-out assault somewhere. At least he'd be able to get out of the base and get away from Ratchet for a while.

Optimus slowly allowed himself to drift off into recharge, his dreams filled with thoughts of Ratchet and of having a sparkling, a family with him.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought.<p>

Swiftwind and Starlight are my OCs. I'll probably use them as Ratchet and Wheeljack's creators a lot.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the support!

**Note: I'm having to work on the rough draft of a big paper I have for one of my college classes, so I'm not having as much time to write. Maybe once I get it done I'll be able to write on my stories more. For now, they may be slow on being updated. Bare with me please.**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

"It's been three groon now." Prowl commented as he made a move.

Prowl and Perceptor were playing a game of chess in the rec room while others were talking, playing other games, and talking about the coming sparklings.

"Indeed. Do you believe that Optimus will end up giving in? He's already made it halfway through the mating cycle." Perceptor remarked as he studied the board.

"I know that very well, Perceptor. However, Ratchet is starting to become even more aggressive now. On top of that, it is no secret that Optimus wishes to have my carrier in his berth. Considering that, he may well give in." Prowl replied. He studied the board himself. "Of course, I could be wrong."

"And what does your battle computer tell you?" the microscope asked as he made his move.

"Too many variables to attempt to use my battle computer." the tactician answered as he contemplated his next move.

Perceptor shook his helm. "What I do know is that I'll be glad when Ratchet is either sparked or this mating cycle to over. Primus knows it'll be easier in the infirmary once we're at that point."

"I thought there was little happening in the infirmary." Prowl stated as he made a move.

"There's not much happening other than Wheeljack and his explosions, the twins and their pranks, and the two sparked mechs we have on base." Perceptor replied.

The black and white mech frowned. "Then what is the problem?"

"Other than Ratchet, there is no other mech on base who has actually delivered a sparkling before. Granted, Swiftwind is a medic, but he has admitted that he never delivered one before. First Aid and Swiftwind know the mechanics of it, but neither have done it before. It will be nice to have Ratchet be the one who deals with that." the red mech explained.

Prowl nodded his helm. "Understandable. Whether Prime ends up sparking Ratchet or not, he will be back to his normal self before they are even into the second stage of gestation."

"Which is a good thing. Primus knows the condition we'd be in if we didn't have Ratchet there to help us." Perceptor stated, reaching and moving one of his pieces and removing one of Prowl's.

Prowl studied the board as he contemplated his next move.

A loud explosion sent vibrations through the room and knocked several humans off their feet.

"Wheeljack's third explosion of the day." Prowl mused.

"Is he insane or something?" a frazzled Lennox asked. After spending a few weeks with Wheeljack on base, Lennox wondered if he was a Decepticon spy sent to sabotage them with all of these explosions.

Bluestreak laughed. "We all wonder that, Colonel. Don't worry, though. He's not a 'Con spy. Wheeljack just blows up everything that he tries to invent."

"Does anything he invent actually work?" Epps asked.

"Yes. After he blows himself up about fifty times trying to get it to work. And then there are times when he's showing it to others that it explodes." Ironhide stated. He chuckled. "Probably why Prime hates Wheeljack's demonstrations so much. He never knows if it'll work, or if he's going to get blown up."

Lennox shuddered. "Remind to never be around when Wheeljack's showing off an invention."

"Do not worry, Colonel Lennox. The same area we have roped off as the limit a human should go near Wheeljack's lab will also be the area that Wheeljack tests his inventions. No human will be near should one go awry." Prowl made his move on the board.

"And what are the chances of that happening?" Lennox asked.

"Ninety-nine point nine percent." Prowl responded immediately.

"Maybe I'd better make it a base-wide rule that no human is to even consider crossing that line." Lennox muttered.

"Or tell them to cross the line at their own risk." Epps laughed. "Considering the number of explosions we've already heard, I don't think anyone is too keen on that."

"Probably not." the colonel agreed.

Perceptor studied the board as he contemplated his next move.

The doors to the rec room suddenly opened, and Jazz entered the room. He immediately noticed Prowl before practically skipped right over. "Hey, Prowler! Guess what? We're having a sparkling!" Jazz announced as he promptly threw himself into Prowl's lap, knocking over the chess board and effectively ruining the game the two mechs had been playing.

Every Autobot and human in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at the silver mech in his black and white bondmate's lap.

"Why did you have to do that?" Prowl asked irritably.

"Did he just say what I think he said?" Epps asked.

Bluestreak's optics brightened. "You mean I'm going to have a little brother or sister!"

"That's right, Blue! We're having a sparkling!" Jazz said proudly.

As much as Prowl had wanted another sparkling, he wished that Jazz would have waited and told him in private. Then again, he knew how flamboyant his mate was, so the tactician knew that he shouldn't have expected anything less from the saboteur.

A sudden laugh came from Sunstreaker. "Well, you two can't blame a mating cycle on this."

"Nope. We wanted another sparklings, so we started trying." Jazz answered, still sitting happily in Prowl's lap.

Normally, Prowl would have simply dumped Jazz into the floor, but he couldn't do that since his mate was now sparked. He didn't mind having Jazz sitting in his lap. He just didn't truly like public displays of affection. He preferred to show his affection in private. "And since you have announced it to everyone, how is the little one?"

"First Aid said everything was fine. Though he was moaning about wishing we'd have at least told him we were trying considering he's already got two sparked mechs and another one who might end up sparked before it's over with." Jazz laughed. "Sounds Aid's been around ya carrier for too long."

"Well, that is good to know." Prowl stated, referring to Jazz carrying.

"So, anyone know what's happening with Prime?" Epps asked.

"I saw him running a bit earlier. Not sure if he managed to lose Ratchet or not." Bumblebee stated.

"The way Carrier's been lately, I'd say not." Smokescreen shook his helm. "Still don't see why Prime won't just get it over with. Things would go back to normal a lot faster if he'd just take Carrier to berth already."

"Not for us to question, Smokescreen." Prowl stated.

"So, how goes the betting pool, Jazz?" Epps asked.

Jazz grinned. "Gettin' pretty high, actually. Many are already upset as they have lost. Got to admit that Prime's lasted a lot longer than Ah thought he would. Thought he woulda cracked by now."

"So did I." Epps agreed.

"Optimus is very strong-willed. He may outlast the mating cycle yet." Perceptor stated.

They would just have to wait and see if the Prime would manage to outlast the mating cycle considering the fact that there were still three groon to go.

* * *

><p>Optimus peered out warily from the building that he was currently hiding behind. He finally managed to ditch Ratchet. How he didn't know, but he had managed it, and for that the Prime was thankful.<p>

Optimus couldn't believe how much more aggressive Ratchet had become in just the last groon. He had never seen the medic act this aggressive unless he was enraged at the damage a Decepticon had done to an Autobot. No. He wasn't even this aggressive then.

Optimus had several more dents from the way that Ratchet had tackled the Prime earlier. The rather lustful kiss that Ratchet had initiated had almost been enough to make the Prime forget all about running and just drag Ratchet to his berth just so that he could frag Ratchet.

Luckily, the Prime had managed to get away before his will broke.

Although a small part of the Prime's spark was disappointed at the fact that he hadn't taken advantage of the situation and had already taken Ratchet to his berth yet.

Okay, a large part of Optimus was disappointed at the fact that he hadn't taken advantage of the situation. Any other mech would have.

But, slag it all, it just didn't seem right! Not to the Prime! He shouldn't spark another unless he was in love with them.

But having a family with the medic did sound like a good idea. It was more than a good idea, as the Prime's dream cycles had been so helpfully pointing out that that was exactly what he wanted.

Optimus shook his helm as he tried to stop himself from thinking about the rather erotic dream cycles he had been having as well as the more tame ones pertaining to raising a family with Ratchet.

A sudden hand reached out and was placed on Optimus's shoulder at the same time a voice said, "Orion."

In his panic, Optimus didn't register who the voice belonged to as he whirled around and quickly pushed the mech in question away roughly, sending them crashing to the ground with a loud bang.

Nemesis groaned. "Primus, Orion! Have you been at war so long that you have forgotten how to respect others, especially your own sire?" The mech glared up at his creation.

Optimus felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Sire. I've been running from Ratchet all morning. I didn't sense your approach, and I was so panicked I didn't recognize your voice. I just reacted." As he spoke, Optimus helped his sire back to his pedes.

"Well, at least I know I didn't deserve it then. Orion, I just do not understand you. Why are you so set against this? Ratchet is a good mech. A bit temperamental, but still a good one. Not to mention the fact that I know you have feelings for him." Nemesis stated as he crossed his arms across his chest.

Optimus was shocked. "Wha-How did you know that?"

"Orion, you cannot fool me. Not to mention the fact that you have been enamored by him since briefly before the war started. It is obvious you want him." Nemesis stated.

"Well, yes, but not like this. Not while he's under the influence of a mating cycle, Sire. It doesn't seem right. It feels like I'm taking advantage of him." Optimus stated.

Nemesis started to say more, but noticed something. "Orion, unless you wish to be pinned again, run." He then wisely moved back out of the way.

Optimus's optics widened before he sprinted away with the chartreuse medic following him.

Nemesis watched as his creation ran before he shook his helm in disbelief. He honestly thought that Ratchet would be an excellent carrier for his son's creations. He thought that the match was a good one.

Besides, the old Prime would like to have a grand-creation or two before his time ended. It would be nice to know the joy of being a grand-creator.

* * *

><p>Optimus dashed through the base again before running toward the building that housed all of the Autobot officers' offices. He entered the building quickly and dashed down the hall. He decided that he would run to his office and barricade the door. He'd be smart and lock the door so that Ratchet couldn't get into the room.<p>

Optimus chanced a glance back and noticed that Ratchet was no longer behind him. This confused the Prime as he had never lost Ratchet this fast before. He then looked forward and had a shock of fear go through him as he noticed that Ratchet was right in front of him. He tried to stop only to step on a section of the floor that was slippery. He lost his footing and went sliding forward right for the medic!

Ratchet had a grin on his faceplates as he saw the Prime heading right for him. He had figured that the Prime would end up heading to the offices, so he had laid a trap for the red and blue mech. He'd made the floor slippery and taken the roundabout way to the offices so that he could get in front of the Prime.

Optimus tried to stop himself, arms flailing out to his sides to no avail. He ended up crashing right into the very mech that he had been running from.

The chartreuse medic managed to stay on his pedes despite the weight of the much larger mech crashing into him, immediately wrapping his arms around the Prime. "Got you."

Optimus's optics widened as he tried to get out of Ratchet's grip. "Ratchet! Stop this!"

"Hmm. Perhaps you're right." Ratchet purred.

A sliver of hope made its way into the Prime's spark that maybe, just maybe Ratchet had come to his senses.

"We certainly don't need others seeing us creating a sparkling." Ratchet finished.

Scrap!

Optimus squirmed, trying to get away from the medic despite the fact that his spark was telling him otherwise. His spark was spinning and throbbing in his chest, wanting the medic more than ever. Optimus, however, chose to fight against the desire of his spark.

Before the Prime managed to get out of the medic's arms, he was unceremoniously thrown into his own office. He was slightly dazed and confused. A moment later, he felt the weight of the medic on him. His optics immediately widened as he realized where the medic was.

Ratchet grinned down at him. "Now we can continue."

"Ratchet, I-" Optimus never finished the sentence as his lips were suddenly captured by the medic's own lips and his mouth was suddenly being ravished by a glossa. Optimus couldn't stop the moan that escaped him.

Ratchet thoroughly searched the Prime's mouth before he started to trail kisses down Optimus's face to his throat, where he licked at the cables.

Optimus groaned. He was enjoying this way too much. His core temperature was starting to rise, and he could feel the heat building his circuits. He tried to voice a protest, but all that escaped him was a moan of pure pleasure as the medic nipped lightly at his main energon line.

Primus, this felt good! He loved the way the medic was nipping at his throat and was amazed at the talent in those fingers as they trailed over his armor in just the right way, sending spikes of pure pleasure through him.

Optimus shook his helm, attempting to clear the fog of pleasure that was threatening to overtake his senses. He opened his mouth to try to stop this when Ratchet's fingers slipped between the gaps in his armor at his hips and stroked over the sensitive wiring underneath the armor. He released a loud cry at that.

Ratchet chuckled. "Vocal. I like that." He then nipped at the energon line again.

Pleasure and lust took over the Prime's processors as he flipped them over so that Ratchet was underneath him. He kissed Ratchet rather passionately.

Ratchet groaned into the kiss as he grasped the Prime's shoulders.

The Pit with it! Just because he interfaced with him didn't mean he had to spark merge with him. No spark merge, no sparkling.

The Prime proceeded to frag Ratchet into the floor of his office.

* * *

><p>Prowl was busy doing some reports in his office. He needed to get them done before he had to deal with the next workload that would be thrown at him. With Jazz now sparked, Prowl knew that he would be having to handle all of his work plus Optimus's work and now some of Jazz's as Jazz tended to be a lazy carrier and not want to do much.<p>

Prowl sighed as he rubbed his helm. With any luck, his own carrier would be sparked soon, and they could get past this. After all, they knew that Optimus and Ratchet had 'faced in the Prime's office earlier, so it meant that Optimus had given up.

The door to Prowl's office suddenly opened, and the tactician was surprised when he saw the Prime rush in before he quickly got the door shut and locked.

Optimus was tense as he heard the sound of footsteps run right past the door. He released a relieved sigh at the fact that he had **FINALLY **lost Ratchet. He had been trying to get away for the past three joor.

After interfacing with Ratchet on the floor of his office, something he was sure that the **ENTIRE **base had heard, the Prime had found that Ratchet was rather eager to go again and spark merge this time. To avoid this, the Prime had resorted to the method he had been using.

Running.

At least he had finally lost him.

Optimus looked up and saw Prowl's expression.

Prowl looked a cross between curious and confused. "What are you doing, Prime?"

"What do you think I'm doing, Prowl? I'm running from your carrier. The same thing I have been doing for the last two groon." Optimus retorted.

"Why?" Prowl asked.

"I think that would be rather obvious." Optimus snapped.

Prowl raised an optic ridge. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you not just interface with my carrier a few joor ago in your office?"

"Yes."

"Then why run now?" Prowl asked.

Optimus groaned. "Prowl, I did not spark merge with him. A mech can only take so much, but I didn't spark merge with him. Nor do I intend to."

"Ah! Then I'm assuming that Carrier has become even more aggressive toward you." prowl stated.

"How did you-"

"Prime, if you interface with a Praxian in the middle of a mating cycle without spark merging with them and then continue running, they become even more persistent and aggressive." Prowl stated.

Optimus allowed his processors to process that before he released a loud groan. "Slag it all!"

Prowl was quite amused at this moment though he did not allow his faceplates to show it. He didn't think it would end well if his Prime saw how amused he was. "Could I suggest that you simply give in and spark him?"

Optimus sent a lethal glare at Prowl.

Prowl shrugged. "Just a thought, Prime."

"As if my life couldn't get any worse." Optimus muttered.

Prowl chose to say nothing to that, knowing that it wouldn't be wise. "And just so you are aware, Jazz is sparked."

Optimus looked at the Praxian with wide optics. "Was this a surprise or did you two want another creation?"

"We were trying. Jazz just informed me today." Prowl chuckled. "I can't say our current medical staff is all that happy, though. As it turns out, Ratchet's the only mech on the entire base who has ever delivered a sparkling before. While First Aid and Swiftwind know the mechanics of it, they don't have the experience that Ratchet does. I'm sure it will be a relief to them when this mating cycle is over."

Optimus growled. "Prowl, you had better not be trying to blackmail me into sparking your carrier."

"I am doing nothing of the sort, Optimus. I am merely stating fact. Whether the mating cycles ends with the six groon ending or because he is sparked, Ratchet will still come out of it before any of them enter the second stage. First Aid, Swiftwind, Perceptor, and Jolt have been studying up on sparked bots and how to care for them. It would be better to have one who is experienced in dealing with carrying to aid them, though." Prowl replied.

Optimus could see the logic in that.

Prowl studied his Prime for a moment before he spoke again. "Might I make a suggestion, Prime?"

"What?"

"If you truly wish to avoid my carrier, I would advise you not remain here. Remaining in an enclosed area for long periods of time is not a wise move. It would make you an easy target for him." Prowl replied.

"Not a bad idea." Optimus agreed. He used his sensors to make sure Ratchet was nowhere near him before he unlocked the door and left.

Prowl smirked now that his leader was gone. If Optimus had broke and interfaced with Ratchet, then that meant that his will was breaking. The tactician suspected that the Prime's will to avoid Ratchet would break very soon. He then decided to contact Jazz. :**Jazz.**:

:**What's up, Prowler?**: Jazz asked cheerfully.

:**Have you handed out the winnings from the bet?**: Prowl asked.

:**Not yet.**:

:**Well, don't do it. I just had a talk with Optimus, and it turns out what while he did interface with him, he did not spark merge with my carrier. And he has no intention of spark merging with him any time soon. In fact, I don't believe that he intends to interface with him again anytime soon. Meaning that the bet is still on.**: Prowl replied.

:**Thanks, Prowler! I'll let everyone know!**: Jazz exclaimed before shutting the link.

Prowl shook his helm. He had known that Jazz would be happy since it meant he still hadn't lost the bet. And it would be interesting to see when Optimus did finally break and spark Ratchet. After all, interfacing with him meant he wouldn't last not spark merging with him much longer.

Prowl wouldn't mind having another brother or a sister running around. It would be enjoyable to have another sibling besides Smokescreen.

* * *

><p>"Ah, man! And I thought I had won!" Epps was disappointed to hear that he had ended up losing the bet after all.<p>

"Which means there's a few of us that still have a chance!" Smokescreen added with a smile.

Sarah frowned before she looked up at First Aid. "I don't understand. Just because they have sex doesn't mean he'll end up carrying?"

"We refer to is as interfacing, and there are several types. The type in which Optimus and Ratchet indulged in was very similar to how humans have sex. Spark merging is when we merge our very sparks with that of another. Only through a spark merge can one of us become sparked. As long as Prime does not merge his spark with Ratchet's, then Ratchet will not become sparked." First Aid answered.

Epps leaned back in his chair. "So, the bets whether or not he ends up sparking him, which means we've still got a bit to go."

Lennox frowned. "Do you think Optimus will end up giving in?"

"That depends." Swiftwind stated as he made a move on the chess board.

Nemesis studied the board before he made his move.

"What does it depend on?" Sarah asked.

"It depends on if Optimus wants to spend the next three groon continuing to run. And it also depends on just how aggressive Ratchet gets. If you thought he was being persistent and aggressive now, then you have will be shocked at what you learn in the coming days." Swiftwind stated.

Perceptor frowned before turning to look at Swiftwind. "What do you mean?"

"I simply mean that if one interfaces with a Praxian in a mating cycle, but do not spark merge with them, it makes them even more aggressive and determined. I can assure you that Ratchet will become much more determined than ever." Swiftwind explained.

"In other words, Optimus is royally screwed." Nemesis remarked.

"Exactly."

"Don't see why Prime doesn't just give in. Seems to me that it'd make things a lot easier." Epps remarked.

"It's his decision. We just have to respect that." First Aid said.

The group couldn't disagree with that.

Jazz plopped down on the couch beside Smokescreen. "So, who's got him giving up by the fourth groon?"

"Several of the soldiers do including Colonel Lennox. Skids and Mudflap do as well." Smokescreen replied.

Jazz nodded. "Who knows? They might get lucky and end up winning."

Smokescreen nodded, though he had to wonder what would end up happening with his carrier and Optimus. It was interesting to him that his carrier chose Optimus to be the one to spark him. The psychologist knew that having the Prime to be the sire of one's sparkling was a great honor, but still amazed him that Ratchet would chose the Prime. At least if Optimus did give in, he knew that his little brother or sister would have an excellent sire.

* * *

><p>Optimus peered out around the corner and saw that the area was clear of any life, human or Autobot. He released a relieved sigh. Maybe he had lost Ratchet for the time being. He turned and headed into the hanger that he was close to, which happened to be Skyfire's laboratory.<p>

Skyfire turned at the sound of a bot entering his lab and saw his Prime enter his lab. "Prime, is there anything that I can do for you?"

"No." Optimus thought about that for a moment. "What are the chances of you flying out to a deserted tropical island for the next three groon?"

Skyfire did a quick internet search to understand what a tropical island was. "Ah. I'm sorry, Prime, but I can't help you there."

"What if I made it an order?"

"Prime, I sincerely do apologize, but I would prefer to be thrown into solitary for disobeying one of your orders than ever face Ratchet's wrath, particularly when he's in the middle of a mating cycle." Skyfire replied before turning back to his work.

Optimus groaned. "What am I going to do? The only thing I do now is run away from Ratchet."

Skyfire glanced back at Optimus. Normally, he wouldn't take joy in teasing another mech for any reason, but he couldn't pass up this chance. "Actually, there is something else that you do." The shuttle allowed a rare smirk to cross his lips. "You frag Ratchet."

Optimus growled at him.

"You can't deny it. We all heard you fragging him in your office. It doesn't matter that you didn't spark merge with him. You still fragged him. Rather thoroughly if the sounds were anything to go by."

Optimus groaned before sinking into a nearby chair. "I suppose everyone knows that."

"Those who did not hear it were quickly informed through, I believe the humans refer to it as the grapevine." the shuttle replied.

Optimus rubbed his faceplates. "I may be Prime, but I'm still a mech. Even I have limits to what I can take."

"And the fact that you have feelings for him and have wanted to frag him for quite some time has nothing to do with it." the scientist stated.

Optimus glared at him.

"Most know it, Prime. You can't deny it."

"No. I can't." Optimus agreed. He would admit that he had had strong feelings for the medic for quite some time. It was hard not to be attracted to Ratchet. For the Prime, anyway.

"If nothing else, you can at least say you've been with Ratchet once." Skyfire started before turning to his work table.

A memory went off in Optimus's processors of something he wasn't sure he really wanted anyone else to ever know.

_Optimus groaned as he slowly came out of recharge. His processors were hurting. He had a processor-ache that would kill Primus himself. He didn't even want to consider moving. He really didn't want to online his optics. The light wouldn't help._

_The worst part was that despite how bad he felt, it was all the Prime's own fault. He had consumed a bit too much high grade with Ratchet the night before and now he was paying the price._

_Optimus chose to just to just curl up and remain in recharge a bit longer. He could listen to Prowl rant about being late to his office later._

_It was the warm body his arms were wrapped around and incoherent mutter that quickly drew the Prime completely out of recharge. He looked and froze when he noticed that there was another mech in the berth with him. He quickly sat up and nearly had a spark attack when he realized that it was __**Ratchet **__who was in the berth with him. _

_Optimus quickly scanned his memory files, trying to piece together what had happened. He knew that Ratchet had been upset the night before due to how severely Prowl had been injured. He had brought Ratchet back to help him calm down. The two had indulged in a bit of high grade and talked._

_Unfortunately, the Prime couldn't remember how Ratchet ended up in his berth. At first, the Prime thought that maybe they had just recharged together, but the fluids that covered the berth squashed that thought._

_Slag it! He had gotten so overcharged that he ended up interfacing with Ratchet the night before._

_And he couldn't remember any of it._

Optimus forced himself to stop thinking about that night. He still couldn't remember anything about it. It had been the real first time that he had interfaced with Ratchet. Even if he couldn't remember it.

"There you are!"

Optimus yelped in shock as he jumped at the sound of Ratchet's voice. He ended up toppling down into the floor with a loud crash. He turned with wide optics to see Ratchet grinning at him.

The moment that Skyfire had heard Ratchet's voice, he had vaulted over his work table and ducked down to stay out of sight. There was no way that the shuttle was going to allow himself to get between the medic and the Prime. He had sworn long ago that he would never get between Ratchet and anyone who had pissed him off. Even Wheeljack.

In this case, the shuttle had no intention of getting in Ratchet's way as he had seen firsthand the damage that a Praxian in a mating cycle could inflict, and he had no intention of becoming one of Ratchet's victims.

Optimus slowly backed up as Ratchet stalked up toward him. "Ratchet, stop this!"

"Now why would I do that, Orion?"

Optimus cursed the fact that hearing his true name coming from the medic's vocalizers heated his circuits up within astroseconds.

Ratchet smirked at this. "You know that you want me. You proved that earlier today."

Optimus slowly made his way to his feet and looked for possible ways to get away from the medic. He most certainly didn't want to remain trapped in here. He didn't think Skyfire would appreciate watching Ratchet jump him.

"Don't you want to go again?" Ratchet purposefully approached the Prime in a manner that would be enticing to him. "I'm certain that you could handle that."

Skyfire wasn't sure if he should feel amused at the Prime's situation or a bit uneasy at the fact that this was his normally reserved brother-in-law acting like this.

Optimus slowly backed up. He wanted to put as much space between Ratchet and himself as he could manage. He was trying to come up with a way to get out of the lab with the least amount of damage done to both himself and Skyfire's lab.

Ratchet had other ideas as he suddenly lunged at the Prime with a speed that astonished Optimus. The Prime barely managed to move to the side out of the way, but he didn't get far enough out of Ratchet's reach. He felt it as one of Ratchet's hands curled around his wrist before jerking him forward, drawing a surprised cry from the Prime as he was drawn closer to the medic.

Ratchet grinned in triumph. "No need to run, Orion. You'll get as much pleasure out of this as I will."

The red and blue mech didn't doubt that in the least. The round earlier had more than proven that, but that was in a moment of weakness. And he wasn't having one of those now.

And the Prime most certainly was not about to interface with Ratchet in Skyfire's lab while the shuttle was currently in the room.

Optimus attempted to get out of Ratchet's grasp only to squeak in surprise when he suddenly found himself on his back with the chartreuse medic straddling him. Again.

Ratchet grinned. "What's your hurry?" He curled his fingers tightly into the Prime's shoulders.

Optimus winced at how tightly Ratchet's fingers curled into his armor. He swore he had had more damage inflicted on him by Ratchet since this mating cycle started than Megatron ever had in any battle.

:_Prime, you'll forgive me, but I would prefer that you not interface with my brother-in-law in my lab. I do have my research to get on with, and I don't know that I would live if Ratchet ever found out witnessed something of that nature._: Skyfire told his Prime though a comm calmly.

:_I'm working on it, but I'd rather not harm him._: Optimus stated.

:_I understand._: Skyfire replied.

Optimus felt one of Ratchet's hands trail down his side and to his hip. His optics widened as he realized exactly what Ratchet intended to do. If he did that, it would most likely be the Prime's undoing. Praying he didn't accidently hurt Ratchet, the Prime instantly grabbed Ratchet by the waist before he physically twisted Ratchet to the side and off of him.

Ratchet landed with a surprised cry, having not expected the Prime to suddenly do so.

Skyfire, worried that the Prime might have accidently hurt Ratchet, peered out over the edge of the table. He saw Optimus kneeling, frozen. He couldn't see Ratchet though, worrying the shuttle.

Optimus was worried that he had really hurt Ratchet when he threw him and heard Ratchet cry out like that. He instantly rose to his knees and turned to see what had happened.

Ratchet was looking at Optimus in a bit of shock before the seductive look overtook his optics once more. "So, you want to play rough this time?"

Optimus felt a streak of fear course through him before he jumped to his feet and hightailed it out of there.

A moment later, Ratchet followed him.

Skyfire stayed where he was un a bit of shock as he started after the two mechs. "Something tells me that Prime would be better off simply giving in to Ratchet."

* * *

><p>As soon as Optimus had managed to evade Ratchet, he retreated to his quarters. He normally wouldn't have come back to his quarters for some time, but he was tired and needed to get some rest. Not like he was doing anything other than running from his CMO anyway.<p>

The Prime grabbed a cube of energon that he immediately downed before he headed to the berth room. He walked over to his berth before he collapsed rather ungracefully on it. He lay on his abdominal plating and folded his arms under his helm as he rested his cheek on his arm. He released a soft vent of air as he offlined his optics, intending to settle down into recharge.

Optimus sighed. He had to admit that the idea of sparking Ratchet and having a family with him was not a bad idea. Primus knew that his dream cycles had been reminding him a great deal of just how likable that idea was. If he was in an actual relationship with Ratchet, then that would be a different bucket of bolts.

Optimus released a rather depressed sigh. As much as he would have liked to be in a relationship with Ratchet, the Prime just didn't think that Ratchet felt like that.

After drifting into recharge, Optimus started to have one of his tamer dream cycles, dreaming of a family with Ratchet.

* * *

><p>Drop a review and let me know what you thought!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

Optimus had ended up rolling over so that he was now lying on his back struts at some point during the night. He had one hand laid over his chest while the other was lying beside him. He was deep in a peaceful recharge, his processors filled with dreams of having a family with Ratchet. It was the Prime's real desire and hope.

The Prime was certain that he was safe while he was on the base and in his quarters. He had always trusted the mechs and femmes on duty to keep the base safe, so he had never feared for his safety to the point that he was unable to recharge properly or peacefully.

As such, the Prime was completely unaware when the doors to his quarters were opened with an override code. He never heard the sounds of pedes stepping lightly into the dim room.

Ratchet had used his override codes as CMO to override the Prime's personal locks on his quarters and get into the room. The medic grinned, knowing that the Prime would never suspect him of coming to his quarters at this time of night. It was the perfect chance to surprise him.

Ratchet stealthily made his way through the room so that he didn't draw the Prime out of recharge prematurely. He wasn't about to let the Prime get away from him again. He was getting tired of the Prime's blatant refusal to spark him and intended to make sure that he didn't manage to get away from him this time around.

The Prime remained in deep recharge, blissfully unaware of the medic slowly creeping toward his berth room.

Ratchet made it to the door that led to the berth room, and the door slid open with a soft whoosh. The CMO then entered the room and easily spotted the Prime still in recharge on his berth.

Perfect.

The medic then made his way over to the berth. He was glad that Optimus hadn't come out of recharge yet. It meant that he didn't know he was there, so he wouldn't be able to get away. At least not that easily.

The Prime was instantly drawn out of recharge by a great weight suddenly dropping on top of him. He came online with his battle protocols active only to find himself staring up at his medic, who was grinning at him. "Ratchet!" The squeal was undignified for a Prime, though he had to admit, at least silently, that he had been doing things a lot recently that was not dignified of a Prime.

"What's the matter, Orion?" Ratchet asked, purposefully using his real designation since he had found that it was an easy way to get the Prime heated up.

The medic wasn't disappointed.

Hearing the use of his real designation had set Optimus's circuits on fire instantly. He really wished that simply hearing that from the CMO didn't do this to him. He instantly started to squirm as he made to grab Ratchet.

The medic noticed what the Prime intended to do. He instantly grabbed the Prime's wrists before he pinned them down to the berth. "Not this time, Orion. You're not getting away from me so easily." Ratchet grinned at him. "We haven't even gotten to the fun part yet."

Optimus swallowed thickly, already trying to figure out how to get away. He started to wish that he had Prowl's tactical processors so that he could figure out a way to get away from the medic fast. Unfortunately, he didn't have Prowl's tactical processors meaning that he couldn't figure a way out. "Ratchet, stop this!"

"You keep saying that, Orion." The medic tightened his hands slightly around the red and blue mech's wrists. He couldn't harm the Prime, but that didn't mean he couldn't make his intentions known. "I'm getting a little tired of this game of yours."

Game? He thought that running was a game!

"Ratchet, this isn't a game! You're not in your right processors! You don't really want a sparkling with me! You're under the influence of the mating cycle!" Optimus protested.

A feral growl escaped the medic as he tightened his hands around the Prime's wrists so much that the armor dented, and Optimus winced at the slight pain that it caused. "Don't know what I want? I know good and well what I want, Orion! And there isn't a doubt in my processors that I want you entirely!"

If those words had been spoken in any other setting, the Prime would have believed his medic and given in to the medic entirely.

Considering the fact that Ratchet was currently under the influence of a mating cycle, the Prime wasn't sure if he should believe his medic or not. And he wasn't taking any chances in this case. He started trying to get out of Ratchet's grip.

Ratchet growled before he smashed his lips against Optimus's.

The Prime gasped in shock at the sudden rough kiss that was forced on him.

The gasp allowed Ratchet to force his glossa into the Prime's mouth and roam around. The medic could never get enough of just how his leader tasted when he kissed him. He thoroughly explored the Prime's mouth.

Optimus moaned into the kiss, enjoying the way Ratchet was treating him. The pleasure and lust that he was feeling started to overtake his processors. He stopped trying to fight the medic as he touched his glossa against Ratchet's and curled around it.

Ratchet released the red and blue mech's wrists before he started to trail his lips down Optimus's face and to his neck, where he licked at the cables.

Optimus groaned as he reached up and grasped the medic's shoulders. "Ratchet."

Ratchet growled at the sound of his designation coming from the mech beneath him. He nipped lightly at the energon line at his throat.

Optimus gasped as he arched up against the medic. His fingers curled around the chartreuse medic's shoulders as he felt the pleasure rush through his circuits. All thoughts of protesting this left the Prime's processors as he succumbed to Ratchet's ministrations as he felt the medic's glossa slide in-between the cables of his neck.

Ratchet grinned, knowing that he had won. He proceeded to explore the Prime's frame, familiarizing himself with the frame that had explored his several times.

Optimus was reduced to nothing more than gasps and moans of pleasure as he surrendered to the medic, letting Ratchet have his way with him.

* * *

><p>Prowl frowned at the datapad he held in his hand. He reread the datapad several times to make sure that he had read it right before sighing.<p>

Well, it had been almost six groon since the last time the Decepticons had done anything, so it shouldn't be all that surprising that the Decepticons were up to something.

What concerned Prowl was the fact that it was taking place only ten miles away from the base. The proximity of the Decepticon activity to their base concerned the tactician. He had to consider the possibility that the Decepticons knew where their base was or at least had an idea of the general area.

Prowl started to contact Lennox when the door to his office was suddenly opened, and Optimus rushed into the room before the door shut and locked.

Optimus had just managed to escape from Ratchet after another rather vigorous round of interfacing this morning. His aching valve would attest to that. By some act of Primus, he had managed to stop Ratchet from spark merging with him, although the Prime had come to the conclusion that he really needed to find a way to stop giving in and interfacing with Ratchet.

Prowl observed his Prime's frame before he came to a conclusion. "Can I assume that my carrier managed to get his hands on you yet again?"

Optimus sighed in exasperation. "Yes. And this time he managed to get into my quarters while I was in recharge!"

Prowl remained impassive. "Well, he is CMO. He probably just used his overrides to your quarters to get in."

Optimus slapped a hand to his faceplates. "Slag it!"

"If it does not bother you for me to ask-" Prowl began.

"No. I did not spark merge with him, so there is no chance that he is going to end up sparked." Optimus replied. He was going to commit suicide if anymore mechs and femmes asked him that question.

"In any case, sir, as long as you are here, you should know that we have come across Decepticon activity." Prowl stated.

"Get a team together and let's go!" Optimus normally wouldn't have moved so quickly, but he needed to get away from the base and away from Ratchet. He'd take having to fight Megatron over being cornered, pinned down, and fragged by Ratchet.

Then again, the last one wasn't quite so bad as he found out earlier. Ratchet was rather enthusiastic in the berth, which made it enjoyable.

Optimus shut that line of thought down before he could allow it to travel any further. That was no going to help him on any level.

"Sir, we need to be careful. They are only ten miles away from the base." Prowl stated.

Optimus immediately became alarmed by that. If the Decepticons were that close then it meant that there was a good chance they had an idea of where their base was. "We'll leave some of the better fighters here. With Jazz, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen all sparked, we need them to have protection here."

Prowl nodded his helm in agreement. "I'll try to find someone willing to help me toss Ratchet into the brig."

Optimus was shocked at that. "Why?"

"Because we don't need Ratchet rushing out into the middle of a battlefield while he's under the influence of a mating cycle. He would spend his time chasing you, you'd spend your time running, and that would leave the Decepticons to do whatever." Prowl replied.

Optimus could see that. With any luck, Ratchet wouldn't manage to break out of the brig and come to the battlefield looking for him.

* * *

><p>Megatron observed the area that they were in with skepticism and disdain. "Are you <strong>certain <strong>that the Autobot base is somewhere in this vicinity, Starscream?"

"Absolutely, Lord Megatron. I have no doubt whatsoever that the Autobots have their base in this area. Like us, they are using a shield to prevent us from discovering it's exact coordinates, but I have watched various Autobots and all converge here before their signals disappear at some point." Starscream replied.

Megatron observed the area with his cold, red optics. He, for one, had trouble believing that Optimus Prime would have his best set up in the middle of nowhere. It would be easy for the Decepticons to attack the base if a way to get around the shield were discovered.

"Laserbeak returns." Soundwave stated. He watched as his creation flew toward them.

Megatron looked up with a frown. He hoped that Laserbeak brought them news of where the Autobot base was, or he was going to end up killing his SIC if the blasted spy hadn't found anything at all.

Before Laserbeak was able to reach where Soundwave, there were shots being fired at him. The Decepticon spy maneuvered to avoid being hit, but his wing ended up being clipped.

"Decepticons! We're under attack! Prepare for battle!" Megatron ordered even as he took aim with his own fusion cannon, firing at whoever came over the ridge.

Optimus, Nemesis, Swiftwind, Prowl, Skyfire, Wheeljack, Bumblebee, Arcee, Elita, Chromia, and Ironhide all drove in their vehicle modes toward where the Decepticons were, transforming and taking aim with their weapons.

"Force them back, Autobots!" Optimus couldn't take the chance that Megatron would manage to find their base. Not with three mechs sparked.

The Autobots held their ground as they fired at the Decepticons, determined to make sure that no Decepticon would get close enough to the base to find it.

Megatron growled, partly in anger and partly in annoyance that his SIC had been right. He'd be hearing Starscream gloating about it for the next several vorn about how he was right about the general location of the Autobot base. The Decepticon leader took aim with his fusion cannon and fired at where Optimus was.

Or at least he thought it had been Optimus.

It turned out that Megatron had fired at Nemesis Prime.

The sire and creation looked so much alike that unless you were close enough that you were able to see their color schemes, it would be very easy to mistake them for each other.

Nemesis turned and narrowed his optics when he realized that the Decepticon had leader had been the one attacked him. He took aim with his own cannon and fired with dangerous accuracy at the Decepticon leader, giving Megatron only the barest chance to move out of the kill shot and take the blast in the shoulder.

Megatron grunted in pain before growling. He was not going to let Optimus best him so quickly. He transformed his arm into a sword and started toward Nemesis only to be tackled by Optimus, and the two went tumbling over the cliff.

Nemesis started to go and help his creation only to find himself pinned down by Starscream and his trine above us.

"Not this time!" Starscream shouted as the three continued firing at him.

Nemesis released a growl as he took cover while firing at the Seekers.

Elita and Chromia had ended up engaging several of the Decepticon drones that were there while Prowl physically tackled Barricade to the ground and began grappling with him. Skyfire began tackling the second Seeker team that was present while Wheeljack, Ironhide, and Bumblebee were forced to contend with Devastator.

Nemesis found it difficult to avoid the blasts from all three Seekers and had to dive out of the way to avoid being destroyed along with the rocks that he had been hiding behind. He rolled to his back and fired at them, managing to nick Thundercracker's wing.

"Slag him to the Pit! He hit my wing!"Thundercracker roared.

"This ends here! We'll end Prime once and for all!" Starscream declared as he flew low at Nemesis.

Nemesis glared up at the Seekers. He may be a former Prime, but the point was that he was a **Prime **and he would not be bested by these Seekers. He vaulted himself up at Starscream and managed to grab hold of his wing.

"Hey! Get off!" Starscream shouted. He tilted himself and tried to throw Nemesis off, but the old Prime held firm.

"Hey! That's not Optimus!" Skywarp shouted.

"No, but I'm still a Prime!" Nemesis retorted as he brought a blade down into Starscream's wing.

Starscream released a shriek as he felt the blade go right through his sensitive wing. A blow to the wing was painful on any level, but having a blade rammed through it was excruciatingly painful.

Thundercracker took aim and started to fire at Starscream when a jolt made him aware of the fact that someone had managed to jump on him.

Swiftwind had seen that Nemesis was battling the Seekers alone, so he had jumped on Thundercracker to give his friend the help that he needed.

"Get him off!" Thundercracker shouted, fearing that Swiftwind would do to him what Nemesis had just done to Starscream.

Skywarp took aim at Swiftwind, intending to help his trine-mate.

Swiftwind had other ideas as he transformed his right hand into a magnet and drew Skywarp toward him.

"I can't get away!" Skywarp shrieked.

A spilt second before Skywarp collided with Thundercracker, Swiftwind jumped backwards off of the Seeker while using the power of the magnetic hold he had on Skywarp and now Thundercracker to send them both hurtling toward Starscream.

Nemesis noticed what Swiftwind had done and quickly ripped his sword out of Starscream's wing before he abandoned Starscream and jumped back toward the ground.

Thundercracker and Skywarp slammed right into the Decepticon SIC and sent all three Seekers crashing to the ground.

Nemesis smirked behind his battle mask before turning to look at his friends. "It would appear that we still have it, even if we are old."

"Of course we do. We might be old, but we're not dead." Swiftwind replied.

Nemesis heard a loud cry and turned to see that Ironhide, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee were being overpowered by Devastator. "Come on. I think the youngsters could use our aid."

Swiftwind nodded and quickly followed Nemesis toward them.

* * *

><p>Megatron took a swing at Optimus's helm only to have the Prime duck and grab Megatron by the arm before he used his leverage to knock the Decepticon warlord's pedes right out from underneath him. The Prime then landed a punch square in Megatron's faceplates, sending the Decepticon crashing to the ground.<p>

Before Optimus was able to bring his energon blade down at the Decepticon, Megatron managed to roll out of the way before he lunged forward and tackled Optimus, knocking the red and blue mech off his pedes and slammed him into the ground. The Decepticon leader then threw a punch down at the Prime, but Optimus managed to move his helm out of the way before he managed to twist himself in such a way that he was able to get the Decepticon leader off of him.

It looked as if being pinned down by Ratchet in recent days had actually helped him. It made it a bit easier for him to throw Megatron off of himself.

The Prime jumped up before he tackled Megatron once more.

Megatron growled. "You won't get the best of me, Prime!"

"I've done it before, and I'll do it again, Megatron!" Optimus retorted.

Megatron growled before cycling on his fusion cannon, which happened to be pointing in Optimus's direction.

Instinctively, Optimus released Megatron and jumped out of the way before the cannon went off. The blast merely destroyed a rock formation that was close by.

:_Lord Megatron, we are in need of your assistance._:

Megatron growled at the comm. :_I'm busy, Skywarp!_:

:_Yes, well, Starscream and Thundercracker are down, most of the drones have been destroyed, and we are being overpowered._: Skywarp told him.

Couldn't they do anything right!

:_Soundwave! Distract Prime!_: Megatron roared.

:_Yes, Lord Megatron._: Soundwave replied.

Before Optimus's sensors could warn him, the Prime suddenly found himself grabbed and thrown backwards, creating a crater in the ground.

Megatron took the chance to head back to the rest of the battle.

Optimus groaned before he managed to sit up. He saw Soundwave with his tentacles out and realized that he was now facing off against the Decepticon Communications Officer. The Prime was forced to jump backwards out of the way as one tentacle came at him only to have another slam into his back and knock him forward into the ground. He released a groan at that. This was going to be difficult.

The Prime froze as he heard a now familiar feral growl.

Oh, sweet Primus!

The Prime quickly looked up to find that Ratchet was there with a pissed off expression. In fact, Ratchet looked more pissed off than the Autobot Commander could remember ever seeing Ratchet.

And that was saying something considering the frustration and anger that Wheeljack caused him with his explosions and the annoyance and frustration that the twins and their antics caused him.

Soundwave, for his part, was confused as to why the medic was there in the first place. A medic was needed in battle to aid those who were injured. Logically, Soundwave knew this, but it made no sense as to why the medic would appear in the middle of the battlefield with no major injuries having occurred or appear to wish to engage in battle.

:_PROWL! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LOCK RATCHET IN THE BRING!: _Optimus shouted over the comm.

:_I did. He must have managed to escape._: Prowl replied as calm as ever.

Optimus groaned loudly. The last thing he needed was Ratchet out here while he was in the middle of a mating cycle. If he was in his right processors, then he might be all right with it. But not now!

The Prime was scared that Ratchet might get seriously hurt out here on the battlefield. Especially with a mech like Soundwave being near. The red and blue mech made to attack Soundwave to get attention off of Ratchet.

Soundwave, deciding that taking out the Autobots' best medic was a wise tactical move, instantly used one of his tentacles to attack the medic.

"Ratchet!" Optimus knew he'd never make it to the medic.

A howl of pain was the next thing that reached the Autobot Commander's audios, though it wasn't Ratchet.

Soundwave stumbled back at the pain that reached his processors from having not on, not two, not three, but four of his tentacles cut through by the Autobot medic's buzz saws.

Optimus stopped and stared in shock at the fact that Ratchet had just dealt such a blow to the Decepticon Communications Officer. He knew that Soundwave was not one easily taken down. Then again, with his tentacles destroyed, the Prime suspected the pain was about equal to an injury to Prowl's doorwings.

Soundwave looked in shock at the look of utter rage on the Autobots medic's faceplates. He was even more shocked when the medic lunged at him.

Ratchet was infuriated. He had managed to escape the brig after being locked in there **away **from Optimus only to come off the base to find that someone was trying to hurt Optimus. The medic saw this as another attempt to keep him away from Optimus and had reacted. He hadn't thought twice about attacking the Decepticon when it attacked. And he most certainly didn't think twice about lunging at it.

"Ratchet!" Optimus was shocked to see that his CMO was attacking Soundwave of all Decepticons.

Of course, the Prime's worry proved unnecessary as Soundwave proved unable to avoid the Autobot CMO's sudden attack.

Ratchet easily managed to get his hands around the Decepticon Communication Officer's throat as he forced him to the ground. He released a loud growl as he brought his fist before slamming it down into Soundwave's face.

Optimus stared in shock. He had never seen the medic outright attack a Decepticon with no one there to back him up. In fact, the Prime wasn't sure he had ever seen Ratchet appear this pissed either. He was starting to understand why Prowl said to stay out of the way of a Praxian in a mating cycle. They were volatile and dangerous. Except to the sire they were after as the sire tended to just be jumped.

Soundwave was shocked at the amount of aggression that was coming from the medic. Once he managed to recover enough of his senses, Soundwave instantly managed to get himself free of the medic.

Ratchet growled at the Decepticon, intent on making him pay for attacking Optimus.

Soundwave chose the best option for himself at the moment and left the area, not keen on being suddenly attacked by the medic again.

Optimus was still stunned. He wouldn't have thought it possible for Ratchet to cut through four tentacles at one time, pin Soundwave down, or get in several good hits on the Decepticon before Soundwave managed to escape. The Autobot leader was certain that if he had not seen that with his own optics he would never have believe it was possible.

The Prime was so lost in his own thoughts that he never heard Ratchet's approach.

"Oof!" Optimus suddenly found himself on his back looking up at a grinning Ratchet.

"Hi, Optimus. Now that the pest is gone-" Ratchet started.

Optimus was horrified. They were out in the middle of a battle for Primus' sakes! And Ratchet wanted them to 'face right here right now when the Decepticons were all around them!

"Ratchet, no! We're out in the middle of a battle!"

"So?" Ratchet leaned in closer.

Optimus was panicking. "Ratchet! The Decepticons are close by!"

"So what? You belong to me, and they're not getting you." Ratchet purred.

So not what he meant!

Optimus realized he was going to have to make this stop as he quickly twisted and flipped them so that Ratchet was beneath him.

Ratchet grinned. "So, you want to be dominate? That's fine by me."

Optimus froze. "Ratchet! This is not the time nor the place!"

"I don't care. I want you."

Optimus realized he had better get out of there before he ended up being bested by Ratchet yet again. He got up and took off.

Ratchet released an annoyed sigh before he chased the Prime.

* * *

><p>To say that Megatron was surprised to see Nemesis Prime among those fighting would have been an understatement. He had long since believed that the old Prime had been deactivated. It was then that Megatron realized that Nemesis must have been the one that he attacked earlier, not Optimus. It explained how Optimus got behind him when he had been certain his arch-nemesis had been in front of him.<p>

Well, it would appear that it was up to Megatron to make sure that Nemesis joined the Matrix. After all, having one living Prime was one too many as it was.

Nemesis Prime was busy firing at Devastator as he tried to take some of the heat off of Ironhide and Bumblebee, both of whom had been injured by the battle with the combiner team. He belatedly realized Megatron was coming right at him and could do little more than brace himself as he suddenly felt the weight of the Decepticon tyrant slamming into him and knocking him down.

"I must admit that I'm surprised. I thought you would have long joined the Matrix." Megatron stated.

Nemesis growled as he suddenly slammed his helm forward into Megatron's.

The Decepticons leader howled in pain and was unable to stop the old Prime from hitting him so hard that Megatron was thrown backwards to the ground.

Nemesis stood up and transformed his arms into blades that he brought down at the grey Decepticon leader. He found his attack blocked by Megatron's own blades.

"I'm not so easily defeated!" Megatron kicked Nemesis in the chest and got up before jabbing forward with his blades at Nemesis.

Nemesis moved back out of the way as he transformed one blade into a cannon that he fired at Megatron, who just barely managed to get out of the way. "That makes two of us, Megatron."

Megatron growled as he got up and attacked Nemesis once more.

Meanwhile, Barricade got a good hit in on Prowl, who was thrown backwards to the ground. The Autobot tactician managed to roll to the side out of the way and raised his blaster to fire at the Decepticon. Barricade moved out of the way before he fired his own laser at Prowl. Prowl jumped up and flipped over toward Barricade. Before a hit could be landed. Barricade grabbed Prowl by the foot before he swung him around and let him go. The tactician went crashing into the ground.

"Had enough yet, Prowlie?" Barricade taunted.

Prowl growled even as he climbed to his feet. "Not a chance, Barricade!" The tactician lunged at the black Decepticon, tackling Barricade and knocking him down to the ground. The two started grappling with each other, trying to get the best of the other. Barricade managed to get leverage and tossed Prowl over his helm, sending the Autobot tactician flying.

Barricade jumped up and started to go at Prowl while he was down, but froze at what he saw. Surely he was seeing things. There was no way that he could actually be witnessing the Autobot CMO chasing Optimus Prime across the battlefield. He rebooted his optics and still saw it. Was something wrong with his processors? Or with theirs?

Prowl quickly moved to his feet and looked up, intending to fight. He was stunned by the expression on Barricade's faceplates, which was a mixture of confusion, horror, and disbelief. Hesitantly, Prowl looked back to see what had caught the Decepticon's attention and was shocked to see that Ratchet was chasing Optimus across the battlefield.

Then again, the tactician reasoned, it shouldn't be all that surprising since Optimus had been yelling at him about the fact that Ratchet was out there a short while ago.

"I don't believe it." Barricade muttered, watching in utter shock.

Prowl groaned. Why now?"

"What in the Pit is wrong with your CMO?" Barricade asked.

"Praxian mating cycle." Prowl replied.

"He's Praxian?" Barricade asked.

"Yes. His sire is a Praxian, so he has Praxian coding." Prowl replied, unable to believe their luck.

Skywarp, who had previously been distracted his wingmates' injuries, was shocked at what he saw. "Well, I'll be a turbofox's uncle."

"What?" Starscream asked, his voice filled with pain.

"Optimus is being chased by their CMO." Skywarp murmured, still in shock.

The two Seekers were stunned to hear that, but didn't have the strength to look at them.

"Take a vid." Starscream muttered.

Skywarp grinned manically. "Already in progress."

Slowly, all Autobots and Decepticons stopped their battles in order to turn and watch as Ratchet chased the Prime.

Swiftwind groaned. "This is hardly the time or the place for this!"

"So go stop him." Ironhide stated, grinning at the red medic.

Swiftwind sent a scathing glare at Ironhide. "I am not suicidal, youngling."

"I'm not a youngling." Ironhide growled.

"To me, you are." Swiftwind retorted.

Bumblebee snickered. "Now you know how I feel when you call me a youngling."

Ironhide glared at Bumblebee.

Megatron stopped his battle with Nemesis and stared in shock as the Autobot Commander ran away from the Autobot Chief Medical Officer. He was quite certain that he had never seen anything of the sort before. "What in the Pit is going on here? Has Prime lost all control over his CMO?"

Nemesis looked at Megatron. "Considering Ratchet's temperament, no one controls him." Nemesis was a bit amused at his creation's predicament, although he had to admit that this was a bad time for Ratchet to decide to chase him. :_Prowl, was he not locked in the brig?_:

:_He was. He must have escaped._: Prowl answered.

Nemesis sighed.

Megatron growled before starting down toward them.

"Approach: inadvisable."

Megatron turned to his TIC and was shocked at the condition Soundwave was in. "What happened to you?"

"Medic: attacked." Soundwave replied.

"How is it that you were defeated by the Autobot CMO? He is one of their weaker fighters." Megatron stated.

In this case, he wasn't, but Nemesis chose not to say anything. If Megatron wanted to go down there and get slagged by trying to get between Ratchet and Optimus, then that was his choice.

Megatron was certainly not afraid to try to get in-between Optimus and Ratchet. He wasn't afraid of anything. This was a battle, not a place to have quarrles. Or whatever they were doing. The Decepticon leader jumped down from the ledge and approached the only two moving figures on the battlefield.

Every Autobot thought that the Decepticon leader was out of his processors for being willing to approach Optimus while Ratchet was in the middle of a mating cycle.

"Prime! What do you think you are doing!" Megatron demanded.

Optimus was forced to stop as the Decepticon leader managed to get in front of him. This was getting worse and worse. Now, Ratchet could easily get his hands on Optimus without much trouble at all.

"This is a battlefield, Prime!" Megatron growled.

"I know that." Optimus retorted. He winced as he heard a growl from Ratchet from behind him. This would so not end well. The real question was who was going to be the one on the opposite end of Ratchet's wrath: him or Megatron?

Megatron hardly felt any fear of the Autobot medic and didn't pay much attention to the chartreuse mech who was currently standing behind Optimus.

Standing very close to the Autobot leader in fact. So close that he was literally in Optimus's personal space.

Ratchet was getting enraged. This mech had no right to try to stop him from getting to Optimus. He was interfering with his becoming sparked. He was a threat, and there was no way that Ratchet was going to allow him to stand in the way any longer.

"Prime, enough of your games. Stand and face me." Megatron growled.

"This is not a good-" Optimus didn't even manage to finish his sentence before it happened. All that the Prime was able to see what a blur of neon green going right past him and all he heard was a feral growl.

Megatron had been shocked when Ratchet suddenly charged forward, but what surprised him the most was the amount of strength that the medic had in his frame. One moment the Decepticon warlord was standing facing his archenemy and the next Megatron had been rammed into by the medic, and the Decepticon leader released a cry of pain when he felt one of the medic's saws cut right through his left arm, nearly severing the limb entirely.

The other Decepticons were shocked to see their master not only get tackled by the Autobot's CMO, a mech who was seen as weak and not worth the time of any Decepticon, but also have his arm nearly cut off entirely.

Ratchet released a growl. He'd tear this mech to shreds for even thinking that he was going to stop him from getting Optimus.

Megatron stared at the medic in shock. He couldn't believe that the medic had just managed to do that.

The remaining Decepticons looked rather worried. If their master could get injured by the medic, what could happen to them?

"Megatron, I suggest you run." Optimus told him.

"You think that I'm going to run from **him**? I don't run from a fight, Prime!" Megatron narrowed his optics. "Besides, you and I have some things to settle."

Not something to say in front of a Praxian who was in the middle of a mating cycle.

Ratchet released a feral growl before lunging at Megatron once again.

Megatron managed to doge one of the blades only to find himself on the opposite end of Ratchet's blaster, which was fired right into his chest.

Optimus winced as he watched Megatron crash into the ground and create a crater.

Megatron then found himself on the opposite end of Ratchet's fist, which ended up breaking his cheek strut. Another good hit ended up putting a crack in Megatron's armor.

Several Decepticons, frightened at this show of strength from the medic, had started to flee.

The Autobots had stood back and watched in amusement as Ratchet pounded Megatron. It wasn't a sight that they thought they would ever see.

Megatron realized that whatever was going on with the medic had made him dangerous to everyone. Retreat was going to be the best option for him at this juncture. He managed to get away from the medic before he shouted, "Decepticons! Retreat!" With that, the Decepticon leader made his own escape, not truly caring if any of the Decepticons got away or not.

The few Decepticons that had remained began their retreat.

Thundercracker and Starscream were far too damaged to do anything, so Skywarp placed a hand on each of his wingmates' arms before he warped them all back to the Nemesis.

The Autobots were quiet for a few moments.

"Well, that was an ending to this battle that certainly didn't expect." Elita stated before she started laughing.

"Indeed." Swiftwind glanced down at where his son was. "I believe that Ratchet just became the best thing that could have happened on this battlefield. He certainly showed Megatron a few things."

Nemesis snickered. "Yes, and it would seem that Ratchet also gave Soundwave a good thrashing as well. All in all, Ratchet had a good day."

"Ratchet! Stop!"

"Come back, Orion!"

All optics looked to see that Ratchet was once more chasing Optimus, who was once running away from the chartreuse medic.

"Well, I believe that we should return to the base." Prowl stated.

Everyone looked at the tactician and acting commander since their Prime was currently being chased by their CMO.

"The battle is over, we have some injuries that need to be attended to, and I, for one, would like to see my mate." With that, Prowl turned and headed for the base.

"What about Optimus?" Chromia asked as the others followed the tactician.

Prowl transformed and the others followed his lead.

"Optimus will be fine. He will make his way back to the base along with Ratchet in time." Prowl replied.

As the group made their way back toward the base, they had no way of knowing that it would be well past midnight before Optimus and Ratchet made it back to the base.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Loving all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

Optimus found himself running through the base yet again. He swore that this last groon had been the worst so far. He was being chased by Ratchet every astrosecond that the medic was out of recharge. And if Ratchet wasn't chasing Optimus, then he was stalking the base searching for the Prime.

Optimus rounded a corner at breakneck speed as he raced through the base to find someplace that he could hide from the medic. Optimus dove inside of the first open hanger that he found. He found himself in the hanger that the Autobots used as a supply room for things that they used humans would have no use of. Optimus quickly found a place to hide and dove in-between the pieces of machinery and the wall. It was a tight fit for the large Prime, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Optimus waited for several tense moments as he feared that Ratchet would manage to track him down as he had in the last five groon. The blue and red mech swore that Ratchet had developed a sixth sense for knowing exactly where he was at any given time.

After ten kliks of nothing but silence, Optimus came to the conclusion that he had managed to lose Ratchet for the time being. Despite that fact, the Prime chose to remain where he was for the time being. He didn't want to move from his hiding place prematurely and end up being jumped by Ratchet.

When the Prime heard the sound of pede steps getting close to the outside of the supply hanger, he grew very tense and worried that he had been caught. When those steps entered the supply hanger, he was sure that he was fragged. Literally.

"Remind me again why we're here, Sides?" an annoyed Sunstreaker asked.

"Because First Aid was pissed at us for our stunt on Chromia and Ironhide earlier, so he sent us to get the medical supplies that he needs." Sideswipe replied. He huffed. "Don't see what the big deal was. Not like we hurt them."

"Well, you were the one who thought that it was a good idea to place a camera in Ironhide and Chromia's quarters to catch them interfacing. You should have known Ironhide would be pissed at something like that." Sunstreaker retorted.

"You were the one who went along with it!" Sideswipe retorted.

Sunstreaker growled. "Let's just get this slag back to First Aid so that we can go check on Blue."

"Sure, sure."

Optimus wasn't sure if he should be glad or horrified that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were the ones in the supply room. He had no doubt in his processors that they would happily point Ratchet in the right direction if they had even an inkling of an idea that he was hiding out in there.

"The infirmary's fully stocked. Why do they need more stuff?" Sunstreaker griped.

"Something about wanting extra on hand with three sparked mechs. Lucky for us Wheeljack was able to find a way to convert solar energy into energon. That's helped out a lot with all the energon Smokey, Blue, and Jazz have been consuming." Sideswipe stated.

"Yeah. Guess so." Sunstreaker snorted. "The only thing is that he blew himself up fifty times before he got it right."

"Wouldn't be Wheeljack if he didn't nearly kill himself." Sideswipe replied cheerfully.

Optimus hadn't even realized Wheeljack had done that. He knew that that was a good thing. He supposed that he didn't have the time to remain caught up on everything with all the running from Ratchet that he had been doing. Once this was over, he was going to have to talk to Prowl just to get caught up on everything that he had missed.

Sideswipe was going through the different boxes to find everything that First Aid had ordered him to get while Sunstreaker merely stood by the door waiting for his twin to get everything they needed to take back.

"You could help." Sideswipe stated.

"It wasn't my lamebrain idea that got us stuck doing something that a medic's assistant should be doing." Sunstreaker retorted.

"Are you ever going to let that go?" Sideswipe asked.

"Eventually."

Optimus shook his helm and wondered, not for the first time, how those two managed a relationship with each other considering the way they always acted, but it made him wonder even more just how Bluestreak had ended up involved with them.

"So, what'd you think of that vid 'Bee sent us of the battle?" Sideswipe asked.

"Never thought Megatron would get bested by Ratchet, though it was amusing." Sunstreaker snickered. "I've got no doubt that Megatron won't be too keen on meeting up with Ratchet again anytime soon."

"I don't know. A mech like Megatron probably likes it rough." Sideswipe said suggestively.

Optimus froze as he processed just what Sideswipe had implied before he felt a wave of anger course through him at the mere suggestion.

Sunstreaker snorted. "Don't think Ratchet's his type. His type is traitorous and screechy."

"Still, wouldn't it have been interesting if Ratchet had wanted Megatron to spark him instead of Optimus?" Sideswipe asked.

"Sideswipe, there are so many things wrong with that notion, not the least of which is fraternizing with the enemy. Besides, I can't see Ratchet wanting anything to do with Megatron." Sunstreaker stated.

"Would be interesting, though." Sideswipe stated.

Sunstreaker snorted. "Whatever. Just make sure Ratchet never hears you say something like that. He'd rip out your vocalizers right before permanently disabling your comm."

"Still. An interesting notion." Sideswipe managed to find another box they needed.

Ratchet wanting Megatron? That was a sickening thought! Besides, Ratchet belonged to him!

Optimus froze as that thought went through his processors. Had he really just called Ratchet his? Oh, who was he kidding! Optimus knew just how much he wanted Ratchet, and he knew that the idea of anyone else getting Ratchet made him jealous.

Optimus forced his anger down; knowing that Sideswipe was joking and that nothing like that had really opened or would ever happen. He hadn't figured himself the jealous type. Then again, Ratchet's never shown interest in anybot, mech or femme, and no one had ever shown an interest in the medic. Optimus supposed that the reason he never realized that he was the jealous type was because he had never had the one he longed for to be on the opposite end of anybot's affection.

"Okay. This is all of it, Sunny. Let's get it to First Aid." Sideswipe stated.

"About time." Sunstreaker muttered. The yellow mech finally moved away from the door and walked over to where all of the boxes were.

The two mechs ended up carrying three boxes each as they made their way out of the supply room.

Optimus leaned back and released a sigh of relief at the fact that they had left without ever realizing that he was there. It meant that he was safe for the time being. The Prime pulled a cube of energon from his subspace before he started drinking it, needing the fuel.

The Prime's processors remained on Sideswipe's joke about Ratchet and Megatron. Optimus knew it was a joke, but the jealous part of his spark, the part that saw Ratchet as his and no one else's, was still upset over it. The idea of Ratchet with anyone else just sat wrong with the red and blue mech.

Optimus shook his helm, trying to knock the images out of his processors as he attempted to remind himself that Ratchet would never be interested in a mech like Megatron. Plus, Optimus was the one that Ratchet had been chasing to spark him, not any other bot.

* * *

><p><em>Ratchet was on the ground after a vicious attack by a Decepticon. He struggled to get back on his feet after such a powerful attack.<em>

_Optimus looked over and saw his CMO in such pain. "Ratchet!" Despite knowing that the mating cycle would have him jumping the Prime, Optimus made his way toward Ratchet, intending to make sure that no other Decepticon hurt him._

_Before the Prime could make it to Ratchet, he was thrown back by the power of Megatron's fusion cannon hitting him right in the chest plates. Optimus went crashing to the ground._

_Megatron smirked at the Prime. "Worried about your little medic, Optimus." The warlord raised his cannon as it charged up. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of him." The tyrant turned and aimed his cannon at Ratchet, who had risen to his knees._

_Ratchet looked up and caught sight of Megatron. Something in his optics changed as he looked at Megatron._

"_Say good-bye." Megatron started to fire._

_Suddenly, Ratchet lunged at the Decepticon leader. Megatron didn't have time to react as Ratchet crashed into him and knocked the Decepticon leader onto his back. Ratchet gave Megatron a seductive smile. "Hello, Megatron."_

_Megatron stared at Ratchet in utter shock. "What in the Pit are you doing!"_

_Optimus himself was shocked. What was going on? Ratchet was acting the way he did with the Prime when he was chasing him. _

"_I was just thinking that we would make a beautiful sparkling together." Ratchet purred._

_Optimus was shocked. What? He had been chasing him all this time, and he suddenly shifted to Megatron!_

_Megatron was shocked, but his shock slowly faded as he smirk took over his features. "Hmm. I do need an heir to the Decepticons."_

_Optimus was even more shocked. Then again, it was just like Megatron to take advantage of something like this._

_Megatron reached up to pull Ratchet down into the kiss._

_And Optimus felt his spark clench painfully._

Optimus jerked out of recharge in shock, barely stopping the scream that he had wanted to release at the nightmare. He glanced around quickly and realized that he was still in the supply hanger. He must have fallen into a light recharge after remaining there for so long.

Optimus shook his helm as he tried to force the memories of the nightmare out of his processors. He could blame Sideswipe for that nightmare. He never would have dreamt of that had he not heard what Sideswipe had said to Sunstreaker.

Realizing he had been hiding there for a few joor, Optimus stood up and slowly made his way out of his hiding place. He was glad that no one was around to see him coming out of hiding in such an undignified manner. He stood and stretched out his joints. His shoulder and knee joints felt stiff, so he knew that he had been in that position too long.

Optimus headed to the door of the supply hanger and peered out nervously. He looked both ways and was glad when he saw that the coast was clear. He slowly made his way out of the hanger before he headed back to the main part of the base.

"Done hiding?"

Optimus jumped with a very unseemly yelp. He whirled around to find himself facing his smirking sire. "Don't do that!"

Nemesis snickered. "You haven't been this jumpy since your late sparklinghood, Orion."

"I have to be jumpy, or I'll be jumped by my CMO." Optimus retorted.

Nemesis laughed. "Wouldn't it be easier to just spark Ratchet? You wouldn't have spent all this time running, jumping, or being jumped."

"Will you stop that!" Optimus snapped.

Nemesis turned serious. "Come on, Orion. Let's talk."

"Here? You're crazy. Ratchet will find me and jump me. He might even attack you for being this close to me for all I know." Optimus replied.

"Come on." Nemesis grabbed his creation by his arm as he dragged his creation across the base.

Optimus could be an extremely stubborn mech, but so could his sire. It was one of the ways that the two were so much alike.

The two ended up going to Optimus's office.

"You realize Ratchet would have me cornered here." Optimus stated.

"Maybe, but no one else is around here right now." nemesis stated.

"What about Prowl?" Optimus asked, surprised.

"With Jazz sparked, Prowl needs to be with him. That's why I've been helping out. Prowl handles the majority of human relations, though I have found myself able to easily work with Colonel Lennox." Nemesis replied as he sat down in one of the chairs.

Optimus followed his sire's example and sat down as well. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You and this situation with Ratchet."

Optimus groaned. "Please, Sire! Stop trying to convince me to spark him!"

"I'm not. I want to know what would be so bad about sparking Ratchet. While his personality does seem a bit off-putting, Ratchet is a good mech at spark. You, of all mechs, should know that considering the fact that Ratchet's the reason you're still functioning after all these vorn of war. Ratchet's honest and loyal to a fault. We both know he makes a good carrier considering how Prowl and Smokescreen turned out." Nemesis could have gone on.

Optimus held up a hand to stop him. "I know all that. I know Ratchet's a good mech. I know he'd make an excellent carrier for any sparkling. It's just-I don't want to spark him just to spark him. I don't think that a sparkling should be created just because of a mating cycle."

"In other words, you'd rather be in a relationship with Ratchet before any sparkling came." Nemesis stated.

"Yes." Optimus sighed. "Granted, if I knew that there was more behind his feelings, I might have considered it. As it is, I don't know that his feelings go any farther."

"Primus knows yours do." Nemesis muttered.

It was true enough, Optimus mused.

"I can see your point, though may I point out that you have interfaced with him several times in the last few groon." Nemesis snickered. "And had your battles fought for you."

"I didn't ask Ratchet to do that, Sire. And interfacing isn't going to create a sparklings." Optimus sighed. "At least I can remember it this time."

Nemesis froze. Remember? This time? He looked at his son with a look of curiosity. "And what exactly does that mean?"

Optimus immediately cursed himself as he realized exactly what he had allowed to slip out.

"Orion?"

Optimus groaned. "I didn't mean to say that."

Nemesis raised an optic ridge. "Mind explaining that."

"Several groon before the mating cycle began, we had been in a rough battle with the Decepticons, and Prowl ended up badly injured. Normally, Ratchet let other medics work on Prowl, Smokescreen, and Bluestreak because of his emotional tie to them, but Prowl's injuries were beyond Perceptor and First Aid. Ratchet had to work on him, but he was badly shaken afterwards." Optimus started.

"I can imagine. It can't be easy working on your own creation when it's possible their spark can extinguish. Especially when you consider just how deeply Ratchet cares for each patient." Nemesis remarked.

Optimus nodded his helm. "In any case, I took him back to my quarters to keep an optic on him. After him having to work on Prowl, I was worried about him. We had a little high grade." Optimus stooped there as he remembered that might. "We had a lot of high grade."

Nemesis had a pretty good idea where this was going.

"In any case, the following morning, I came out of recharge, and Ratchet was in the berth. It was kind of obvious that we had interfaced, though I honestly don't remember any of it. Ratchet doesn't, either." Optimus explained.

"Ah! I see." Nemesis hadn't expected to hear that. "I didn't think that you were one who enjoyed so much high grade."

"I don't, but I did that night. For whatever reason." Optimus shook his helm. "Like I said, I don't remember that night." He was still kicking himself for taking advantage of Ratchet when he was in such an emotionally vulnerable position.

Nemesis was quiet a moment. "Well, at least I'm starting to understand just why you don't want to spark him. Though you still have a groon that you have to run from him. And your will not to spark him seems to be breaking with each passing day. Or each passing interface."

Optimus winced, knowing that the last time he had interfaced with Ratchet his will had almost broken entirely. He wouldn't last much longer. Even if he was right at the end of the mating cycle.

"Orion, I don't know what to tell you." Nemesis stated.

"I didn't tell you for advice. You were the one that wanted to know." Optimus leaned back in his chair. "I just don't know what to do about Ratchet."

"If you manage to resist him for the rest of the mating cycle, then I suggest you tell him how you feel. At least then you'll know." Nemesis stated.

Optimus knew that his sire's advice was sound, and he was fairly certain that that was exactly what he was going to do. If he managed to resist Ratchet for this last groon.

* * *

><p>Optimus had been making his way back toward his quarters, intending to think about everything that he had discussed with his sire when he suddenly found himself on his back with a lustfully grinning Ratchet on top of him. "Ratchet!"<p>

"Hello, Orion." Ratchet purred. "I finally caught you. Now we can have some fun."

"Ratchet! Not here!" Optimus certainly didn't want anything to happen right here where anyone could see them. Now that would be something that would scar the humans for the rest of their lives.

"Hmm. Perhaps we should go to your quarters then." Ratchet suggested, looking at the Prime with a suggestive smirk.

Optimus realized that he had used a poor choice of words. This was the exact situation that he had hoped he would be able to avoid.

Ratchet leaned in close, intent on kissing the Prime.

Optimus didn't give him the chance to as he suddenly grabbed Ratchet by his waist before he easily lifted the smaller mech and twisted him to the side, easily tossing Ratchet to the ground.

Ratchet released a cry of surprise as he was suddenly tossed to the side by the Prime.

Optimus instantly jumped to his feet and started running away from his CMO.

Ratchet was also quickly on his feet and chasing the Prime.

Optimus rounded a corner and ended up heading for the officers' quarters. He instantly sent a comm to his carrier. :_Carrier, are you busy?_:

:_No. Starlight and I are playing a game of chess._: Alpha Trion replied.

:_Thank you. I'm coming in._: Optimus was glad he had gotten out of Ratchet line of vision as he quickly dove into his creators' quarters and locked the door.

Alpha Trion and Starlight both looked up from their game and watched Optimus carefully.

"Orion, what-" Alpha Trion didn't get his question out before Optimus had sprinted into the berth room and shut the door.

"I am not here."

Alpha Trion and Starlight looked at each other, expressions of mirth on their faceplates.

"It would appear that Optimus is still running from my son." Starlight stated.

"I get that feeling, too." Alpha Trion agreed, chuckling. He then made his next move.

"I must admit that I am impressed, Optimus. Few have managed to evade a Praxian in a mating cycle as much as you have." Starlight then made her own move.

Alpha Trion studied the board before he made his own board. "Just how did you manage to get away from Ratchet considering the fact that he's been so aggressive lately?"

"Threw him off me and ran until I ducked in here." Optimus replied from inside the berth room.

Starlight chuckled. "That sounds about right. Ratchet has a never been one to give up in anything. I can imagine him not giving up in this, and I know he won't stop until the mating cycle is over."

Optimus silently thought that the mating cycle couldn't end soon enough. Maybe then he could have a civilized conversation with Ratchet about his feelings for the medic without being jumped.

The door to the quarters was unlocked.

Inside of the berth room, Optimus tensed and contemplated cowering under his creators' berth. It was something that a sparkling would do, but in this case, the Prime might need to do so just to save himself from Ratchet and his aggressiveness.

"Any reason why Ratchet's stalking the area?" Nemesis asked.

"Yes. Orion is currently hiding in our berth room. Ratchet must know that he is in the area at the very least." Alpha Trion replied.

Nemesis shook his helm. "Are you not tired of hiding yet?"

Optimus chose to come out of the berth room. "And just what would you have me do? Skyfire refused to get me out of here. I had considered joining a trucking company, but Ratchet probably would have followed me had I done that."

"Hmm. True enough." Nemesis agreed.

Swiftwind chuckled. "Well, Praxians in a mating cycle aren't known for giving up. Although I'm certain Ratchet's going to be mortified when he comes out of it."

"He'll remember everything?" Optimus asked, surprised.

"Oh, yes. Every detail." Swiftwind laughed. "I'm certain that Ratchet isn't going to be all that thrilled with how he has acted while on the mating cycle."

Optimus started to wonder if Ratchet was going to kill him when Ratchet remembered how many times the Prime had threw him in his attempts to get away from the medic.

"Anyone who dares to mention it will most likely end up with a wrench to the helm." Nemesis stated.

Swiftwind snorted. "A wrench? Try a laser welder. That's turned on."

"That's true. Ratchet does have quite the temper." Alpha Trion agreed. He had seen Ratchet's anger on more than one occasion.

Optimus wondered if he would live after Ratchet got his hands on him again. In any case, the Prime considered leaving his creators' quarters. It wasn't wise of him to remain in one place too long, or there was a chance of being cornered, and he most certainly didn't want Ratchet jumping him in front of their creators.

Swiftwind walked over and sat down in a chair as he watched his mate and Alpha Trion play their game. "I honestly don't know why you're running from him, Optimus."

Optimus mentally groaned, not wanting to have this conversation again, especially not with Ratchet's own sire.

Nemesis started to tell Swiftwind to leave the subject alone, knowing that his son didn't want to have to reiterate himself yet again.

"I mean, we all know you love him, and Ratchet loves you, so what's the big deal?" Swiftwind asked.

The three other mechs and the femme all looked over at the red and white mech.

"What?" Swiftwind had no idea why they were all looking at him.

"What do you mean Ratchet's in love with him?" Nemesis asked carefully.

"Well, Optimus is the one that Ratchet targeted during this mating cycle, which means he's in love with him." Swiftwind explained. He then looked over at Optimus. "Didn't Prowl tell you?"

"Prowl told me that it would be someone that they **trusted.**" Optimus replied, in shock.

"Well, of course it's also going to be somebot that he trusts. Usually you trust the one that you love as it is." Swiftwind shook his helm. "Ratchet trusts a great many bots, but I don't think he'd want any of them to spark him. With that temper of his, if anyone other than you even suggested something like that to him, then I'm quite certain he'd have ripped them to shreds. He gets his temper from Starlight's side of the family."

"I resent that!" Starlight growled.

Swiftwind raised his hands non-aggressively. "I said your side of the family, not you. You have to admit that your carrier had quite the temper."

"So did your sire. And your grand-carrier, if memory serves." Starlight retorted.

"Agreed. So, I suppose Ratchet gets it from both sides of the family." Swiftwind conceded.

"And Wheeljack? Where does he get his explosions from?" Alpha Trion asked.

"Well, my grand-carrier, my sire's carrier, and grand-sire, my carrier's sire, were both scientists. Neither had explosions, but they both had a lot of failures before they were able to get an invention right." Starlight replied.

Nemesis glanced at Swiftwind.

"Don't look at me." The medic said, raising his hands. "Both of my grand-sires were politicians, one of my grand-carriers was a medic, and my other grand-carrier was a professor."

"Hmm. I guess Wheeljack got a double dose of not being able to get an invention right, so it led to explosions." Alpha Trion surmised.

"If we could get back to the original topic."

All four looked at Optimus.

"What did you mean that because Ratchet targeted me it meant he was in love with me?" Optimus really needed that clarified.

"Ah. Of course. You see, when a Praxian carrier goes into a mating cycle, they do target someone they trust, but trust isn't enough for them to want them to spark them. As I said before, Ratchet trusts a great many, but that does not mean he would be willing to allow them to spark him. Our emotional protocols are tied directly to mating protocols, meaning that a Praxian carrier will only target a sire if they are in love with that sire." Swiftwind said.

"So why in the Pit would Prowl tell me it was just because Ratchet trusted me?" Optimus asked, exasperated.

Swiftwind laughed. "Well, Ratchet once told me he didn't think Prowl listened to him entirely when he was teaching Smokescreen and Prowl about Praxian mating cycles. As Prowl was a sire, Prowl didn't think he needed to know much about them unless he ended up with a Praxian carrier. Since Jazz is Polyhexian with no type of mating cycle, Prowl didn't see the need to know much about them. Ratchet complained to me that Prowl half-listened. It doesn't surprise me that Prowl got it wrong." Swiftwind considered his statement a moment. "Perhaps I should have told you all about it upon our arrival on Earth."

"That would have been nice." Optimus muttered.

Well, if this wasn't a fine kettle of fish. All of this time that Optimus spent running under the belief that sparking Ratchet would have nothing to do with Ratchet being in love with him, and all this time Ratchet wanted Optimus to spark him because he was in love with him. That meant Optimus could have ended this madness five groon ago.

"Excuse me." Optimus turned and left the room.

"Where is he going?" Starlight asked.

Nemesis laughed. "I believe that he is off to find your son to do exactly what Ratchet has wanted him to do all along. Spark him."

"Why the sudden change of spark?" Alpha Trion asked.

"Simple. Orion didn't want to spark Ratchet because he was in love with Ratchet. He didn't think Ratchet loved him and didn't want to spark Ratchet just because of the mating cycle. He wanted it to be because Ratchet loved him, too. Since he now knows that the mating cycle means Ratchet does love him, Orion is going to make us all grand-creators."

"Wow. I think I should have told him all this when we first arrived." Swiftwind muttered.

Starlight snickered. "We can tell him how screwed he is once Ratchet's sparked."

Alpha Trion laughed. "Yes. The carrying protocols of Praxians and Polyhexians are vastly different, and since Ratchet has both, he could react either way." He then made a move. "I believe that is checkmate."

"So it is." Starlight agreed.

"At least we are going to be grand-creators before we join the Matrix." Nemesis remarked.

"Yes, and all ours seem to come from Ratchet." Starlight added.

"Look at it this way. Ratchet will be back to normal soon, and we'll have a medic that actually knows what he's doing caring for the other three sparked mechs." Swiftwind stated.

All of them agreed on that.

And they all couldn't wait to be grand-creators. Especially Alpha Trion and Nemesis, who had never been grand-creators before.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you think.<p>

And I'm pretty sure you can guess what the next chapter is about.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for all the supoprt!

**THIS CHAPTER IS PRETTY MUCH PURE STICKY/INTERFACING/MECH ON MECH SEX! IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT, I SUGGEST YOU READ NO FURTHER THAN THE FIRST TWO SECTIONS! IF YOU LIKE IT, KEEP ON READING!**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

After leaving his creators' quarters, Optimus started to look for his CMO. This was the first time since the mating cycle started that Optimus actually was going in search of Ratchet. Knowing that Ratchet actually loved him made a world of difference in the Prime's spark.

:_Optimus, a word of advice. You won't be leaving your quarters any time soon. Praxians in a mating cycle tend to keep their mate in the berth until they are certain that they are sparked._: Swiftwind told him.

:_Thank you, Swiftwind. I'll keep that in mind._: Optimus replied.

:_Oh, and they like full interfacing, not just spark merging. And they are not always the submissive ones._: Swiftwind quickly cut the connection.

Optimus wasn't sure if he liked the idea of Ratchet's own sire knowing what he was planning, but he figured his own creators had already figured it out, so why not add that to the rest of his humiliation.

At least the Prime could take comfort in the fact that there wasn't anyone on the base who would dare speak of anything that happened while Ratchet was in the middle of the mating cycle unless they wanted to face Ratchet's wrath.

And there were not that many that were willing to face Ratchet's wrath.

A sudden sharp pain to the back of his helm was the next thing that the Prime was aware of before he crumbled to the ground and blacked out from the force of the blow.

A few that had been nearby saw the Prime go down were worried that something was wrong with him until they saw the neon green CMO walk up beside the Prime and pick up his favorite wrench that had been used to knock the Prime out. Not one of the bots that were nearby had the courage to try to aid their Prime. They had no way of knowing that Optimus hadn't intended to run from the medic.

Ratchet then easily grabbed the Prime and started to drag him off. The medic chose to go to the Prime's quarters because it was closer. He could easily use his override codes to get in as he had done before.

* * *

><p>Jazz sauntered into Prowl's office with a smirk on his face. "Guess what, Prowler?"<p>

Prowl glanced up at Jazz momentarily before turning his optics back to the datapad in his hand. "I don't do this guessing game, Jazz."

Jazz's expression failed. "You don't want to hear what I have to say?" His voice low and trembling.

Prowl froze as fear went straight through his neural net. SLAG IT! He'd forgotten just how overly emotional Jazz was while carrying and every little wrong word could set him off. Prowl instantly dropped the datapad before he jumped up and over to Jazz. "Of course I want to hear that you have to say, Jazz."

"Really?" Jazz's voice still trembled.

"Of course I do, Jazz." Prowl smiled at him. "Now, what was it that you wanted to tell me?"

Jazz immediately brightened. "Great! Well, we're having twins!"

Prowl froze. He knew Jazz hadn't already been sparked with two. Which meant- "Split spark twins?"

Jazz nodded excitedly. "Can you believe it! We're going to have split spark twins, Prowler! I can't wait to see them!"

Prowl would be happy to be raising two at one time. "I can't, either, Jazz." Prowl wrapped his arms around Jazz before he pulled the Polyhexian saboteur to him to kiss him. He then rested a hand over Jazz's spark chamber. "I'm sure that they will turn out to be great mechs or femmes."

"'Course they will! They are ours, after all!" Jazz seemed really happy about this.

Prowl was going to make sure that they did not end up like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker on any level. And he would make doubly sure that those two did not influence them in any way.

"Oh! That was the other thing!" Jazz seemed really giddy. "Heard from Jolt and Smokey that Ratchet knocked OP out with a wrench and then dragged him off. Don't think he's getting away this time."

"He hasn't been getting away at all. He's just been getting out of spark merging with him." Prowl replied. He shook his helm. "I can't help but wonder if Optimus will make it through this last groon."

"We'll know soon enough!" Jazz was extremely jubilant.

Prowl was grateful that he had avoided a complete meltdown from Jazz. He was going to have to be more careful about what he said to his sparked mate until after their twins came.

* * *

><p>Optimus groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His helm and processors were killing him. He shook his helm a few times to clear the fog in his processors before he onlined his optics. He found himself looking up at the ceiling. A quick glance around told the Prime that he was in his own berth room.<p>

His berth room?

Optimus scanned his memory files as he tried to ascertain what had happened. His last clear memory was of searching for Ratchet after learning from Swiftwind that the only reason Ratchet would have targeted him as the sire to spark him was because Ratchet was already in love with him.

The Autobot Commander made to move only to find himself restrained on the berth. Glancing up, the Prime saw that his hands were bound by a pair of stasis cuffs that were secured to the berth. Not even with his strength could he get himself free.

That explained why he couldn't get up.

"I should have knocked you out and tied you down a lot sooner."

Optimus glanced over and sat his CMO grinning at him.

That explained how he got here.

Ratchet moved over to the berth before climbing onto the berth with the Prime.

"Ratchet, could you let me go?" Optimus asked.

"Nope." Ratchet moved to straddle the Prime's waist. "I'm not letting you get away from me again, Orion."

Optimus felt his circuits heat up at the mention of his own name. "If I promise not to run, will you let me go?"

"Nope. I'm not running the risk." Ratchet then leaned in close. "I want you, and you're not getting away from me again."

Optimus found that Ratchet was close enough that he could lean up and close the distance between them to kiss him. It sounded like a really good idea.

"I'm tired of this little game of yours. I'm not letting you up out of this berth until I'm sparked." Ratchet told him.

"Fine by me." Optimus muttered before he leaned forward and quickly pressed his lips to Ratchet's own.

Ratchet gasped in shock at the sudden kiss and the muttered omission. He had thought that he would have ended up fighting the Prime as Optimus had been so intent on running in the past.

Optimus took advantage of Ratchet's shocked gasp as he slipped his glossa into the medic's mouth, starting to roam around.

Ratchet groaned as he placed his hands on Optimus's shoulders for balance. He touched his glossa against the Prime's as he leaned into the kiss.

Optimus moaned into the kiss as he curled his glossa around Ratchet's own glossa. He felt it as Ratchet started fighting him for dominance in their kiss. The Prime's hands clenched into fists, wishing that he was free to touch Ratchet. He pulled at the restraints even as Ratchet overpowered him, allowing the medic's glossa into mouth.

Ratchet roamed around the Prime's mouth, enjoying the moan of pleasure that escaped him. His fingers curled around the Prime's shoulder armor, thoroughly enjoying the kiss. He broke the kiss to kiss down the Prime's face and to his neck, lapping at the cables.

Optimus released a groan at that. He tilted his helm back, enjoying what Ratchet was doing to him. He felt it as Ratchet's glossa slide between the cables in his neck, drawing a moan from the Prime. He never understood how it was that Ratchet was so talented at this.

Ratchet started to trail his hands down Optimus's frame as he moved on down the Prime's body, licking over the Prime's chest plates and paying special attention to his headlights. The medic could feel the hum of Optimus's spark beneath the metal chest plates.

Optimus could feel his circuits becoming more and more heated as Ratchet continued his ministrations. Primus, but this mech knew how to get him heated up! The red and blue Prime started to pull at his restraints a bit more, wanting, needing to touch the mech on top of him and to return the favor of pleasure.

"Not even you can get out of those, Orion." Ratchet grinned as he continued roaming the Prime's frame. He really should have considered using stasis cuffs before. It didn't matter that the Prime was the most physically strong Autobot on the base. Not even he could get out of the stasis cuffs.

Optimus knew that Ratchet was right about that. He didn't stand a chance of getting out of the stasis cuffs under his own power. The only way he had of getting out of them was if Ratchet let him go, but it didn't seem like the medic intended to let him go anytime soon. "Ratchet! Please! I'm not going anywhere! Just let me go!"

"Now why should I take the risk?" Ratchet asked, teasing him now. He hadn't stopped his exploration of the already familiar frame, continuing to stroke his fingers over the rapidly heating armor and trailing his glossa over the metal as well. He slowly trailed on down the Prime's body, dragging his glossa over the Prime's interfacing panel.

Optimus gasped at that as he allowed his panel to retract. He didn't want to delay this any longer for once since this all started.

Ratchet was pleased that he didn't seem to be fighting. Ratchet leaned forward and ran his glossa around the rim of valve, enjoying the moans he heard from the Prime. He released his own moan as he tasted the Autobot Commander's lubricants. It was a sweet taste to the medic, one that got his own engines revved up even more than they already were. He slowly started to slip his glossa into the valve, enjoying the taste even more.

Optimus gasped even as he spread his legs for the medic, more than willing to let Ratchet do whatever he wanted.

Ratchet allowed his glossa to slide deeper into the Prime, feeling it as the red and blue mech's valve clenched around his glossa in desperation or perhaps anticipation. Ratchet couldn't be sure at the moment. Not that he cared. He then slipped one finger into the tight valve, loving the shocked gasp that escaped from the mech beneath him. Ratchet started to gently thrust that finger in and out of the Prime, thrilled as he heard the pleasured gasps that came from his lover.

Optimus had always known that Ratchet had large fingers, but he had never known just how large until the first time Ratchet had taken him. He found out quickly that Ratchet's fingers felt wonderful inside of him.

Ratchet pulled his helm back as he pulled his glossa from the valve as he slipped a second finger into the Prime's valve, thrusting his fingers into him roughly.

Optimus cried out at that even as he started moving back against the fingers inside of him. Primus, it felt so good! But the Prime wanted more than this. So much more. "Ah! Ratchet, please! Oh!" His hands clenched even tighter, and he started to tug at his restraints with more force. "Please, Ratchet! Just spike me already!"

Ratchet smirked. Oh, he did enjoy hearing the Prime beg for him. The medic slowly made his way back up the Prime's body so that he was looking Optimus in the optic again.

Optimus shivered at the predatory look in Ratchet's optics, and the sight of his own lubricants on Ratchet's face sent spikes of lust through him.

Ratchet leaned down and pressed his lips to the Prime's before forcing his glossa into the Prime's mouth.

Optimus moaned at the taste of himself on the medic's lips. How it was possible for something like that to turn him on so much he would never understand. But it did, and the Prime allowed a whimper to escape as he really needed some type of relief from the want, need, and heat in his circuits. He needed Ratchet to take him already!

Ratchet could sense just how desperate the Prime was, so he figured that it was time for him to be a bit merciful to his lover. Besides, he wanted Optimus as much as Optimus wanted him. The medic allowed his own interfacing panel to slide back with a clock before his spike extended.

Optimus shivered as he heard the click of the retracting panel, and he felt a trill of anticipation go through him at the sound of the spike extending. He lifted his legs and wrapped them around the medic's waist.

Ratchet broke the kiss before he leaned down so that his lips were by Optimus's audio receivers. "I truly hope you're ready."

Optimus shivered at that.

Ratchet released the Prime's hands from the stasis cuffs at the same time he thrust deeply into the Prime's valve, sinking into the tight, wet valve with a groan of pleasure.

Optimus released a loud cry as he arched up against Ratchet, wrapping his arms around the medic's neck as he buried his face into the side of Ratchet's neck. He whimpered as he felt Ratchet's thick spike buried within him.

Ratchet released a groan at just how tight and wet the Prime really was. He pulled out of the red and blue mech at a slow pace before he thrust back inside of him fast and hard.

Optimus released a loud gasp that. He felt it as the spike slowly left him only to have it returned to him fast and hard. It was an incredible feeling.

Ratchet was being easy with Optimus for the time being because he didn't want to accidentally hurt him. After continuing with this slow, steady pace, Ratchet could tell that the Prime was getting tired of this pace. He knew that Optimus wanted more.

But why should he rob Optimus of the right to beg for it?

Or rather, why take the fun out of hearing Optimus beg for more?

After Ratchet continued with his slow pace, Optimus became desperate for more. He wanted more than this. "Please, Ratchet!"

Ratchet pressed his lips against the Prime's neck before speaking. "Please what?"

Optimus whimpered. "Ratchet!" He sounded completely pathetic, but he didn't care at the moment.

"Say it." Ratchet growled.

Optimus groaned. "Primus, Ratchet! Please! More!"

Ratchet chuckled. "Was that so hard?" He then pulled out until just the tip of his spike was left inside of him before he thrust inside faster and harder. He then pulled out faster and thrust back in faster.

Optimus gasped as he started to claw at Ratchet's back, feeling the pleasure building as he felt Ratchet increase the pace.

Ratchet growled as he felt the valve surrounding his spike spasm. It was an incredible feeling, and Ratchet thrust into the red and blue mech faster and harder.

Optimus gasped and moaned as he felt Ratchet's fingers start to trail down the Prime's sides, tracing over sensitive sensors. He felt his overload drawing closer.

With surprising strength, Ratchet rolled them over so that he was on his back and Optimus was the one on top of him.

Optimus whimpered at the change of position, but quickly picked up where Ratchet had left off. He rose up until just the tip of the medics spike remained inside of him before he moved back down onto the spike, feeling it as the spike dragged over every sensor node in his valve. It was enough to drive him into overload, but he held off. The Prime slowly started to move faster on Ratchet's spike, enjoying the moans that escaped the mech beneath him.

Ratchet growled as he traced his fingers down the sensitive sensors in the Prime's back, loving the pleasured moans that escaped the mech on top of him.

Optimus knew that his overload was fast approaching, so he opened his chest plates and revealed his spark, knowing that this was what Ratchet really wanted.

Seeing the Prime's spark sent a powerful wave of lust through Ratchet as he opened his own chest plates, revealing his own spark.

Optimus leaned down closer to Ratchet as he took the medic's lips with his own.

The two sparks slowly merged together, sending waves upon waves of pleasure through Ratchet and Optimus. Optimus cried out into the kiss as he felt Ratchet's own emotions through the merge. He was more than a bit overwhelmed at the emotions he felt pouring into him. He had always known that Ratchet felt more than the grumpiness and anger that he showed everybot, but this was more than he had expected.

Ratchet himself was overwhelmed by the emotions he could feel from his Prime. He had known of all the hardships that came along with being Prime, but Ratchet hadn't known so much weighed so heavily on the Prime's processors.

Overload crashed into them both.

Optimus broke the kiss and cried out as he overloaded harshly, feeling his valve clamp down tightly around the spike inside him as he rode the waves of overload.

Ratchet released a growl at just how tight the valve around him had become as he overloaded as well, filling the Prime's valve with his own fluids.

The energy from the overload of their sparks flooded into Ratchet's spark, the force of it taking the medic by surprise.

Optimus would have collapsed entirely on top of the medic had he not placed his hands on the berth on either side of Ratchet's helm. He panted for a few moments before he slowly drew off the spike within him before collapsing on the berth beside Ratchet. Primus, he was tired.

Ratchet appeared to be as well. He seemed halfway to recharge as it was.

Optimus reached over and pulled the medic to him, letting Ratchet rest his helm on the Prime's chest.

Ratchet curled up beside the Prime and allowed himself to slip into recharge.

Optimus kept his arms wrapped around Ratchet. He had felt a lot of Ratchet's emotions through the merge, but decided he could sort all that out when he was more alert. Which meant after Ratchet was sparked.

This would turn out okay in the end, the Prime mused. After all, this mech did love him, which meant they could have that talk sooner than Optimus had originally thought. Optimus would need to talk to Ratchet about them becoming an official couple after they discussed their feelings for each other.

Optimus allowed himself to drift off into recharge as well with Ratchet wrapped securely in his arms.

* * *

><p>Optimus was brought out of recharge by the feel of lips trailing over his frame. He released a moan as he felt heat starting to rise in his circuits. He onlined his optics to find that Ratchet was already online and appeared to be in a mood to interface once more. "Ratchet." He reached up and grasped Ratchet by the shoulders.<p>

Ratchet smirked as he trailed his lips over the Prime's chest plates. He had come out of recharge ready to go again, so he thought he'd draw the Prime out of recharge in a rather pleasant way. "It takes more than once to make a sparkling, Orion."

Optimus shivered at those words, but made a quick decision. Being the stronger of the two, he easily flipped them over so that Ratchet was underneath him.

Ratchet looked up at Optimus, a bit surprised at the sudden change in position.

Optimus didn't say a word as he leaned down and took Ratchet's lips with his own, easily forcing his glossa into the medic's mouth. He enjoyed the surprised moan that he got from Ratchet even as he roamed around the cavern. He didn't give Ratchet a chance to try to fight for dominance as he ended the kiss before he started to trail kisses down to Ratchet's neck as he allowed his large hands to trail down the medic's frame, stroking over sensors that he had found to be sensitive in their previous bouts of interfacing.

Ratchet released a loud moan of pleasure as his circuits were lit on fire by the Prime. This was what he really wanted. To be thoroughly dominated by his lover.

Optimus trailed his lips on down to Ratchet's chest plates, sliding his glossa down the seam where his chest plates parted, drawing a loud gasp from the medic. "Tables are turned now." He slid his hand on down Ratchet's frame between the medic's legs to his still open interfacing panel. He easily slid a single finger into the valve, feeling the first trickles of lubricant coating his finger.

Ratchet gasped and arched up against the Prime as he felt the finger invade his valve. He released a whimper as he felt the finger start to thrust in and out of his valve slowly. He felt it as the finger scrapped over the walls of his valve slowly. "Orion!"

Optimus smirked at the desperate cry that escaped from the medic as he pressed a kiss to Ratchet's chest plates before moving on down the medic's frame. He leaned down to Ratchet's valve before he licked the rim of the valve with his glossa as he pressed another finger inside of the valve that was getting wetter with each passing moment. He loved the sound of the moan that escaped Ratchet as Optimus thrust his fingers into Ratchet. He finally allowed his glossa to slip inside of the valve alongside the two fingers. He groaned at just how Ratchet tasted.

Ratchet released a whimper as he wanted Optimus to take him more than anything. His hands scrabbled down to the Prime's helm. "Orion, please! Take me already!" He sounded needy and desperate.

Optimus felt heat run through him at that and felt his own need for the medic increase. He pulled his glossa from the medic's valve before licking his lips, enjoying the taste of the medic. He moved back up so that he was level with Ratchet's face before he leaned down and pressed his lips to Ratchet.

Ratchet moaned at the taste of his own lubricant on his lover's lips. He reached up and grasped Optimus's shoulders only to have Optimus grab his hands and press them down against the berth.

Optimus used his strength to ensure that Ratchet wasn't going to be able to get up as he shifted so that he was between Ratchet's legs. He allowed his pressurized spike to extend and pressed the tip of it against Ratchet's valve.

Ratchet shivered as he felt the tip of the spike at his valve. This was what he wanted more than anything. He wanted, no, needed the Prime to take him already. "Orion, please! Take me!"

Optimus growled at those words. "As you wish." He then pressed inside of Ratchet slowly, groaning at the feeling of his spike being engulfed by such wet, tight heat.

Ratchet gasped as he arched up against the Prime. Primus, it felt good to have his valve stretched out by his Prime's spike! He was nearly stretched beyond his limits, but it felt so fragging good! Ratchet's fingers tightened around Optimus's own as he felt the Prime go as deep as he could.

Optimus released a groan as he stopped to give Ratchet a moment to adjust. He was just grateful that he could at least remember interfacing with Ratchet now.

Ratchet whimpered. He couldn't handle feeling the Prime inside of him and not moving. "Orion, please! Move already!"

Optimus chuckled at just how desperate and needy the medic sounded. He could get used to hearing the medic beg for him. He slowly pulled out until just the tip of his spike remained inside of the medic before he thrust back inside of Ratchet at a slow pace.

Ratchet tilted his helm back as a moaned escaped his lips at the feel of the thick spike dragging at a tortuously slow pace over every sensory node that lined his valve. It sent spikes of pure pleasure straight through his neural net.

As Optimus continued with his slow, gentle pace, he leaned down and licked at the cables in the medic's neck, enjoying the groan that escaped from Ratchet at that. Optimus released Ratchet's hands as he started to trail his fingers over Ratchet's frame, seeking out the sensitive points in Ratchet's body as he continued to claim Ratchet as his.

Ratchet released a gasp as he reached up to grasp Optimus's shoulders, his fingers digging into his lover's shoulders. He enjoyed the slow pace, but he wanted so much more than this. He couldn't handle this slow pace. "Primus, Orion! Faster!" Ratchet couldn't stop the begging tone from his voice, and he didn't bother trying to, either. He had no shame in admitting that he preferred a faster, rougher pace.

Something the Prime was well aware of. Optimus planted his hands on the berth before he pulled out and thrust back into the medic at a faster pace, making the inward thrust harder.

Ratchet released a loud cry of pleasure as his fingers started to claw at the Prime's back and wrapped his legs around the red and blue mech's waist.

Optimus continued with this faster pace, enjoying every pleasured cry, gasp, and moan that escaped from Ratchet. He had always enjoyed thoroughly enjoyed pleasuring his berth mate. It was probably why he had had no complaints in the past.

Ratchet released another whimper as he felt the Prime continue with the faster, rougher pace. Primus, this was incredible! The chartreuse medic could feel his overload approaching, so he allowed his chest plates to open, revealing his swirling blue spark.

Optimus understood what it was that Ratchet wanted, which was a good thing considering the fact that Optimus himself was getting close to his overload. The Prime allowed his own chest plates to split apart before he leaned down slower to Ratchet, allowing his spark to merge with Ratchet's.

Both mechs cried out as they felt their sparks merge, the intense pleasure from the merge washing over them both and sending them even closer to their overloads.

Ratchet fingers dug into the Prime's back as the next powerful thrust combined with the powerful merge sent him into overload. He clung to the Prime as he cried out. The power of the overload crashed through his systems, and his valve clamped down on the thick spike buried within him.

Optimus groaned at just how tight the valve had become. He could feel the force of the overload through their merged sparks, and he was dragged into overload as well. He thrust deeply into Ratchet once more as he felt his own overload overwhelm him. He released his fluids inside of the medic even as the energy from the overload of their sparks forced the energy into Ratchet's own spark.

His strength depleted, Optimus collapsed on top of Ratchet.

Ratchet released a grunt at the weight of his lover crashing on top of him, but he didn't have the strength to care about that fact. He was far too sated at the moment to much care much about how heavy the Prime really was.

Optimus lay there until he recovered enough of his processing power to realize that his weight couldn't be comfortable for Ratchet. He forced himself up onto his elbows to find that Ratchet was already in recharge. The Prime pulled out of the medic before shifting to the side to lie beside Ratchet. He wrapped an arm around Ratchet's waist as he pulled the medic close.

As he lay there, Optimus couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before Ratchet ended up sparked. He allowed his hand to gently stroke down Ratchet's side. He had spent the last five groon running from Ratchet because he was afraid that Ratchet was only chasing him because of the mating cycle. Had he known that Ratchet had actually been in love with him and that was why the mating cycle chose him, the red and blue mech would have given in to Ratchet at the start.

Oh, well. No sense in dwelling on what he could have done.

Optimus settled down beside Ratchet and allowed himself to slowly slip into recharge. He had a feeling he would need all the recharge that he could get since it seemed like Ratchet would want to do a lot of interfacing in the near future.

Optimus slowly drifted into recharge and his dreams were once more filled with thoughts of him and Ratchet together as a bonded couple with a family of their own. Only now, those dreams seemed even more within his grasp than he had ever considered before.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought!<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Love all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

Slowly, Ratchet came out of recharge. The medic released a groan as his processors were killing him. That wasn't the only thing that was killing him, either. His valve was rather sore, and he felt as if he had spent an entire groon doing nothing but interfacing.

That was impossible, though. Ratchet didn't go for casual interfacing. He wasn't the type to do any such thing. He interfaced with a mech or femme because he was in a relationship with them.

Ratchet onlined his optics before taking a look around. He instantly noticed that this was not his berth room. Where was he? Once Ratchet's processors were able to take in the items that were set up in the room as well as how they were set up, the chartreuse mech instantly came to the logical conclusion that he was in Optimus's quarters. He had seen this berth room once before.

Now for the big question. Why in the Pit was he in Optimus's quarters!

Ratchet sat up. Or at least attempted to. A strong arm around his waist prevented the medic from actually managing to sit up. He chanced a glanced down and was unsurprised to find that there was a red arm wrapped around his waist.

Primus! What in the seven levels of the Pit happened!

Ratchet managed to squirm his way out of Optimus's arm without rousing the Prime from recharge, for which the medic was thankful. He had intended to simply get out of the berth, get out of his Prime's quarters, and get back to his own quarters before Optimus came out of recharge. Maybe he could figure out what had happened once he got back there. His last clear memory was of going to Optimus's office to give him the medical reports that the Prime had requested from the last battle. What had happened since then?

However, Ratchet had only shifted away from the Prime a few feet when his memory from the time during the mating cycle finally loaded up and was integrated with the rest of the memory files that the medic had.

OH, SWEET PRIMUS!

Ratchet could not believe that he had targeted Optimus during his mating cycle. Then again, he could believe that he had targeted Optimus. He was in love with the Prime, which was why the mating cycle had ended up making him go after Optimus.

Ratchet was so embarrassed at the way he acted when he chased Optimus. He had made such a fool of himself in front of everyone on the base. There was no way that he was going to be able to show his face to everyone else again.

Ratchet released a frustrated sigh as he remembered everything he had done while under the influence of the mating cycle. He had to admit that knocking Sunstreaker and Sideswipe around wasn't that unusual. He just normally used a wrench instead of his fist.

However, handing Megatron's and Soundwave's afts to them in the middle of a battle certainly was not what something that he normally would have risked. Granted it was nice knowing he had shown Megatron a thing or two, but still!

Ratchet groaned. He had made an utter fool of himself, and he was going to kill the first mech or femme who decided that teasing him about it was a good idea.

For now, the medic needed to figure out how he was going to apologize to Optimus for the way he was acting. He couldn't imagine the amount of horror that the Prime felt at what was going on. Not to mention the embarrassment that Ratchet caused the Prime. How was he ever going to manage to look Optimus in the optic after this?

It was then that it occurred to Ratchet to check to see how long it had been since he had entered the mating cycle. He frowned when he saw what day it was. But that couldn't be right. If it was, then there should be a few more breem of the mating cycle to go. If he was out of it, then that meant that he was-

"Ratchet?"

Ratchet released a startled yelp at the unexpected questioning tone from his berth mate. The medic had jumped and ended up losing his balance, starting to tumble off the berth.

Optimus quickly reached out and grabbed Ratchet by his arms before pulling Ratchet toward him to keep the medic from falling off the berth. In his haste to keep Ratchet falling off the berth, the Prime pulled him so hard that Ratchet ended up flush against the Prime's chest.

Ratchet felt even more embarrassment race through his circuits at being held in his Prime's arm and at being held right against his chest. As if making a fool of himself hadn't been bad enough. He had to add to his embarrassment by being held by his Prime in such a way.

"Are you all right, Ratchet?" Optimus asked gently.

"I'm fine, Optimus." Ratchet murmured, trying to control himself. He might not be under the influence of the mating cycle any longer, but it didn't mean that he didn't desire the Prime any longer. He had wanted the Prime for quite some time.

"Are you certain?" Optimus was a bit stunned that Ratchet had yet to jump him. He had gotten used to being either jumped or roused from recharge by Ratchet virtually molesting him. Not that he had minded that. "Ratchet, are you back to normal?"

Ratchet steeled himself before he pulled back from the Prime to look the red and blue mech in the optic. "Yes, Optimus. I'm back to normal. The mating cycle is over." He was nervous. What did he say to Optimus after all that had happened? For that matter, how did he act around him after spending so long chasing him and trying to seduce him? What did he say to him after spending the last few breem in the berth with the Prime? And what did he say to him since it would seem that he was now sparked?

Optimus was glad to hear that. For one, it meant that he wouldn't have to run all over the base to get away from Ratchet anymore. Granted, he hadn't had to do that for the last two breem, but that was besides the point. Second, it meant that the Prime would be able to get back to his duties and take the pressure off of Prowl and his sire. Third and most important, it meant that Optimus could have that conversation with Ratchet. "Ratchet, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Swiftwind told me that when a Praxian is in a mating cycle, they only chase someone that they are in love with. Is that true?" The Prime didn't think that Swiftwind had lied to him, but he wanted to hear it from Ratchet.

Ratchet had had a feeling that that question might come up. He hated that he was going to have to tell the Prime the truth, but he wasn't about to lie to this mech, of all mechs. "Yes. It's true, Orion." He was startled. Why in the name of Primus had he just called the Prime by his original designation?

Optimus was thrilled to hear that. It meant that he was going to get everything that he wanted. Hopefully.

Ratchet had to steel his nerve once more before he chose to speak. "Optimus, I-" He was cut off by the feel of his Prime's lips on his. The medic was stunned. Of all the things that he had expected, being kissed by Optimus wasn't on the list.

Optimus hadn't been able to contain his excitement. It meant that Ratchet really was in love with him, which was exactly what the Prime had been hoping to hear. He had kissed Ratchet without even thinking of it.

Ratchet's shock slowly melted away as he came to the realization that he was being kissed by the mech that he loved with all his spark, something he hadn't thought would happen. He finally reacted by starting to kiss Optimus back, wrapping his arms around the Prime's neck.

Optimus slid his arms around Ratchet's waist as he held the chartreuse medic close to him. When he had heard from Swiftwind that a Praxian in a mating cycle targeted someone that they were in love with, he had been thrilled to learn that it meant that Ratchet was in love with him. It wasn't something that the Prime had expected, but he was overjoyed that it was true. It was more than he had expected to happen.

Finally, the two broke the kiss, but remained where they were, enjoying the closeness.

"So, can I assume that you feel the same way?" Ratchet asked.

Optimus smiled at him. "Of course. I wouldn't have merged with you otherwise. It was the only reason that I spent five groon running away from you. Prowl told me un-bonded Praxians will target a sire they trust to spark them during a matting cycle. It wasn't until Swiftwind told me that they only want a sire they are in love with to spark them that I decided that giving in would be a good idea."

Ratchet sighed. "I should have known Prowl telling you would be a bad thing. He never really listened to me when I tried to explain to him and Smokescreen about the mating cycle. It wouldn't affect Prowl, so he saw no reason to learn about it."

"Hmm. Swiftwind said as much." Optimus agreed. He was glad to hear that Ratchet really did love him. It made things a lot easier now. "Ratchet, considering everything that I know now, do you think that we can start a relationship?"

Ratchet smiled. "Of course, Orion." That was the mech he had fallen in love with, after all. It wasn't the title of Prime that he loved, but the mech behind the title. "Besides, I think that would be a good idea, all things considered."

Optimus was a bit stumped at just what the medic meant by that.

"Trust me when I say I do love you, but I think it would be better for the sparkling's sake if its creators were in a relationship." Ratchet explained.

"You're sparked?" Optimus couldn't stop the words from tumbling from his vocalizers.

Ratchet laughed. "I wouldn't be out of the mating cycle yet if I wasn't, so I'm fairly certain that I am sparked."

"That's why you hadn't already jumped me." Optimus muttered.

Ratchet was now trying to figure out if he should be horrified about that. "I feel like I should apologize for the way I acted on the mating cycle. I know I didn't give you much of a choice, but I'm rather certain that you didn't appear dignified to anyone in the last five groon."

"Tell me about it." Optimus shook his helm. "Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were the worst."

"That I can believe." Ratchet sighed. "I suppose I hardly appeared dignified, either. I can't imagine what the humans thought."

"I believe shocked and horrified fairly much describes how they reacted at the start. Once everything was explained to them, I believe it went to pure amusement." Optimus scowled. "Everyone seemed to enjoy seeing me jumpy and tiptoeing around, as the humans would say."

Ratchet sighed. "I'll never live it down."

Optimus chuckled. "I believe a few wrenches could change everyone's processors."

"Probably." Ratchet agreed. He knew that he probably needed to go see First Aid to confirm that he was carrying. "I suppose I need to go and see First Aid."

Optimus reached out and placed a hand on Ratchet's shoulder. "I don't think he'd enjoy being roused from recharge. It is late, Ratchet. It's something that can wait until morning."

Ratchet realized that Optimus was right. It could wait. "All right. It can wait."

"Good." Optimus then pulled Ratchet down to lay beside him. "Then we can get some more recharge ourselves."

Ratchet felt a bit uneasy recharging in the berth with Optimus despite the fact that he had spent the last few breem interfacing and recharging with the mech. He supposed it couldn't kill him. It didn't take Ratchet long to settle down and curl up next to Optimus, who kept his arms wrapped around the medic. "I suppose I do need to talk to my creators considering the fact that they've only seen me a bit crazed since they got here."

Optimus chuckled. "Yes, well, they understood. And got a kick out of everything just like my creators."

"No wonder they're all friends, right?" Ratchet asked.

"Right. I will say that they all seem to enjoy the idea of being grand-creators. Especially my creators." Optimus remarked.

Ratchet realized something. "Oh, slag it! I forgot!" He instantly sat up.

"What?" Optimus was both shocked and worried, sitting up as well.

Ratchet sighed. "My carrier was a pain when I was carrying Prowl and Smokescreen. I believe the humans refer to it as being a mother hen, which was the definition of the way she acted. Going through that again will drive me to insanity."

Optimus chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Ratchet. "Don't worry, Ratchet. Smokescreen, Bluestreak, and Jazz are all sparked. I'm quite certain Starlight will be just as concerned with them, taking some of it off of you. Especially Smokescreen and Bluestreak since this is their first time carrying."

Ratchet frowned. "Jazz?" He glanced back at Optimus.

Optimus nodded. "They decided to have another one now, too."

"Four sparked mechs." Ratchet muttered.

"Yes, and you're the only one who has any experience in caring for a sparked bot as well as delivering a sparkling." the Prime replied.

"It's a good thing I'll be almost a full stage behind the others. They'll need me to show them what to do." Ratchet stated.

Optimus nodded his helm. "Now, stop worrying about what your carrier is going to do."

Ratchet nodded before lying back down with the Prime.

Optimus chose not to mention the fact that his own carrier might become a bit of a mother hen. No need in worrying Ratchet anymore than necessary.

* * *

><p>Prowl was playing a game of chess with his brother-in-law Hot Shot.<p>

Jazz, Smokescreen, and Bluestreak were all talking about carrying as all three of them were having twins. It was a big topic for the three sparked mechs.

Others were talking about random topics, some were discussing Decepticon activity, and others were talking about personal matters with their friends.

The humans were involve in the various conversations that were taking place.

Sarah Lennox was visiting with Annabelle as was Rachel Epps and her son, Michael. The two women were talking with the three sparked mechs about how they were doing.

Lennox and Epps were currently talking to a few of the others bots in base.

"So, any word on the doc?" Epps asked suddenly.

Prowl glanced over. "Not as of yet, Sergeant Epps. We have not heard from either one of them. I'm certain that Ratchet will wish to speak with First Aid as soon as he can."

Hot Shot looked over. "So, who did end up winning the bet on doc and Optimus, Jazz?"

Jazz grinned and started to answer.

"Bet!" came an angered growl.

Every mech and femme in the room froze at the very familiar growl. All optics and eyes turned to find Ratchet and Optimus standing in the doorway to the rec room.

Optimus looked very uneasy as he took a step away from Ratchet, figuring that he should have mentioned to Ratchet before about the bet. He really hadn't even thought of the bet though, if he were completely honest with himself.

Ratchet glared at all of them with a look that could have killed Primus himself.

:**If looks could kill, I believe would be the appropriate human phrase to describe this.**: Nemesis stated to Alpha Trion over their bond.

:**Indeed.**: Alpha Trion agreed. He himself was uneasy due to the fact that he knew he had been one of the winners of the bet.

"What bet?" Ratchet growled.

Jazz suddenly felt very afraid and truly hoped that Ratchet would at least let him live long enough to give birth to his and Prowl's twins before committing a murder. "Um, well, you see, Ratchet, we were sort of, um, entertained at watching you chase Prime, so we sort of had a bet about if Prime would give in or if he wouldn't. Added to that was what groon of the mating cycle he'd give in during."

Another growl escaped from the medic.

Everyone looked terrified from Prowl right down to the lowest ranked human in the room.

Optimus didn't feel afraid because he hadn't been in on it, though he was rather worried for everyone else on the base.

"Who started the bet?" Ratchet snarled.

"Um, I did." Jazz's voice was rather small from the fear.

"And who was involved?" Ratchet asked.

"About everyone on base." Smokescreen answered, not daring to lie to his carrier when he was in this state.

Epps, Lennox, Sarah, Rachel, and every other human in the rec room all quickly came to the conclusion that a wrench-throwing, shouting bloody murder Ratchet was scary. A quietly growling Ratchet who had not thrown a thing was downright terrifying. Shit in your pants terrifying, in fact.

"What made you think this was a good idea?" Ratchet demanded.

"Um, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Jazz replied.

Ratchet's restraint broke.

A wrench went sailing through the air.

"OWWWW!" Prowl instantly clutched his helm. "What was that for!"

"I'd never hit a sparked bot!" Ratchet retorted. He glared at Jazz, who felt the overwhelming urge to cower behind his mate at the moment. "However their mate is another story!"

Prowl was the one who now felt the overpowering urge to cower behind his mate.

"The one who thinks that teasing either of us about this is dead. All video images had better be destroyed or deleted. And if I have to go through every processor on this base, I will." Ratchet's tone was deadly and it was a promise. All Autobots knew that much. Ratchet turned and walked out past Optimus

Optimus was rather amused and decided that this was Primus's way of getting back at them for the way they had acted while he was being chased by Ratchet.

"FIRST AID!"

The medic in question jumped at the sudden shout from his mentor before scrambling to his pedes and dashing out the door at lightning speed.

Optimus followed the medic in amusement.

"I'd say that went pretty well." Sideswipe said cheerfully.

"Pretty well?" Lennox looked at him, incredulous. "Pretty well! That was damned scary!"

"Yeah. I've never seen doc bot so pissed before. I thought we were all going to die." Epps stated.

Prowl moaned, rubbing his helm. "I wish I was."

Hot shot sighed in relief. "At least he didn't target me."

"Why would he?" Smokescreen asked.

"You helped with the bets. It means I'd be his target." Hot Shot answered.

"And here I thought you loved having Ratchet for a carrier-in-law." Sunstreaker teased.

"Not when he's royally slagged off like he is now."Hot Shot replied.

Prowl winced. He had a feeling that his carrier was going to be hard to deal with for the time being. And he was going to have to talk to his mate about not pissing Ratchet off since it would seem that Prowl would be the one to pay the price for Jazz pissing Ratchet off.

"So, since the immediate threat is gone, who did win the bet?" Sunstreaker asked.

Jazz's happy demeanor had quickly returned as he grinned. "There ended up being four winners. Alpha Trion, Starlight, Sarah Lennox, and Prowl."

Bluestreak laughed. "You might be safe from Ratchet's wrath, Mrs. Lennox. However, I'm not certain the other three are going to be safe when Ratchet learns that they won." He then looked over at his sire with amusement. "Especially you, Sire."

Prowl groaned. He was so slagged when Ratchet found out all of this.

Alpha Trion and Starlight both feared that they were going to be in deep slag as well once Ratchet learned they had not only been in on the betting, but that they had actually been one of the winners of the betting.

* * *

><p>Ratchet couldn't believe that they had made a bet about whether or not Optimus would end up sparking him. For Primus' sake! Having a sparkling was not something to be betted upon! If it wasn't for the fact that Jazz was sparked, Ratchet would have really let him have it.<p>

First Aid was tentatively following his mentor. It was never easy dealing with Ratchet when he was a in a bad mood, which was most of the time considering how Sideswipe and Sunstreaker tended to annoy him with their pranks combined with Wheeljack's numerous explosions. Not to mention any other injuries that tended to come up during the cycle.

Optimus, on the other hand, wasn't afraid of Ratchet. Sure, he was wary of Ratchet when he was in a bad mood, but he hadn't done anything to piss the medic off. Which meant that he was safe for the time being. He knew that Ratchet was certain that he was sparked, but Optimus wanted to be there himself to know for sure. And to make sure that everything was fine.

Ratchet entered the infirmary and was a bit surprised to find that his sire was in the infirmary. Then again, he supposed it shouldn't be that big of a surprise to find Swiftwind there since Swiftwind was a medic as well. Considering that Ratchet had been unable to perform his duties while he had been under the influence of the mating cycle, it only made sense that his sire would be here to help First Aid, Perceptor, and Jolt out.

Swiftwind sensed his son's approach, which meant that Ratchet was out of the mating cycle. Which meant that he was most likely sparked. He smirked and said, "So, I see we're finally out of it now."

Ratchet glared at his sire. "Oh, do not start with me!" He was hardly in the mood for teasing.

Swiftwind was used to Ratchet's temper. After all, he had admitted earlier that Ratchet's temper had come from both his side of the family and Starlight's side of the family.

First Aid was more than a bit surprised that his mentor would snap at his own sire like that. Then again, this was Ratchet, so the medic probably wasn't scared to snap at anyone like that.

"The only reason that I am here is because I strongly suspect that I am sparked. I just want to make sure I am right." Ratchet told them.

"Uh, of course, sir." First Aid had been the one handling the sparked mechs for the most part, so he had become rather well-versed in what he needed to do to determine if a mech were sparked and how to care for one. He quickly went to get what he needed to ensure all was going accordingly, though Ratchet would be only a breem or two along, considering the amount of time that he and Optimus had been locked in Optimus's quarters.

**BOOM!**

Ratchet sighed. "If I didn't already known that Wheeljack was on Earth, that would have told me he was."

Swiftwind laughed. "Say what you will, but your brother hasn't changed at all. You have to admit that."

"The cycle that Wheeljack actually manages to invent something without causing it to blow up first is when I give up being a medic and return to being a politician." Ratchet retorted.

Swiftwind snickered. "Then you're stuck being a medic for the rest of your function." The old medic looked over at First Aid. "You tend to Ratchet. I'll go see what needs to be done about keeping my other son online." Swiftwind grabbed a medical kit before heading for the infirmary.

"How many times has he nearly blown up the base?" Ratchet asked.

"I lost count after the 10,287th time he was in here." First Aid replied.

"That many in only four groon?" Optimus asked.

Ratchet snorted. "You should have been around when he first started inventing. I swear he had five times that many in half that much time."

"And he's alive why?" Optimus asked.

"Me." Ratchet retorted. He shook his helm. "After the first thousand explosions, no other medic would care for him."

"I don't blame them." First Aid stated. He shook his helm. "I was glad when Swiftwind offered to handle Wheeljack."

"The things we do for family." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus smiled behind his combat mask. He knew that Ratchet really did love his brother and worried about him every time he had an explosion. He also knew that Ratchet tended to care for Wheeljack's injuries because he didn't really trust many other medics to take proper care of his brother.

First Aid then started to do a thorough examination of Ratchet's systems in a normal capacity. He needed to make sure that everything was running normally from the mating cycle. He had read up on Praxian mating cycles and talked to Swiftwind. There were some Praxians who would come out of a mating cycle with their levels in dangerous zones. Thankfully, that wasn't the case here. Which meant that there would be no problems with the sparkling if Ratchet was indeed sparked. "Ratchet, could you open your chest plates for me, please?"

Ratchet did as asked. He wasn't too worried that he wasn't able to sense the sparkling considering the fact that it would be so soon. He wouldn't be able to pick up on any newspark until he was in about the second to third groon of the first stage.

First Aid noticed that Ratchet's spark was a deeper blue than it usually was. It meant that he was only a few breem along, which would coincide with the amount of time that Ratchet and Optimus had spent locked in Optimus's quarters. Not that the young medic intended to mention anything of the sort in front of his mentor. He valued living far too much. Within a few more breem, the small, gold spark of the sparkling would emerge from within Ratchet's spark and be seen. "You're defiantly, sparked, Ratchet. Your spark has already deepened in color. I'd judge that the sparkling's spark will emerge from yours in three or four breem."

Ratchet nodded his helm. "I thought as much. I would still be in the mating cycle otherwise." His thoughts instantly turned to the other three sparked mechs on the base. His medic programming drove him to want to know about their states. He was also a little more concerned considering the fact that all of the ones that were sparked were a part of his family. "How are Jazz, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen?"

"Oh. They're all fine. Everything is going accordingly. And all three of them are having twins." First Aid stated.

"Twins? I'm not surprised Bluestreak is having twins since he has two mates. Each one probably sired one of the sparklings. Smokescreen has the predisposition of having twins, so that's not surprise." Ratchet mused.

Predisposition? Optimus wondered what kind of predisposition would mean that Smokescreen was more likely to have spark twins.

"As for Jazz, that is a bit surprising." Ratchet stated.

"Actually, they're having split-spark twins. I discovered that the spark had split only a few breem ago." First Aid added.

Ratchet nodded. "Split-spark twins are very rare. I just pray that they don't turn out like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker."

"Considering the processor-aches and crashes that they have caused Prowl, I'm more than certain that Prowl is going to ensure that they do not turn out like them." First Aid remarked.

"Yes, and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker will have their hands full with their own sparklings." Ratchet hoped that being creators would help Sideswipe and Sunstreaker act more their age.

First Aid nodded before he walked over and got a cube of medical grade energon which he handed over to Ratchet. "Lucky for us Wheeljack was able to find a way to use various minerals from Earth to create energon. The only thing he didn't have was Cybertronium, which we have managed to accumulate a large quantity of, so we're good for a long time. Even by our standards." First Aid told him.

"That is a good thing." Ratchet agreed. He was glad that they wouldn't have to rely on solar energy any longer since energon was much better for their systems, especially carrying bots.

"And you know that you'll have to take in-" First Aid started.

"I know, First Aid. One cube of medical grade each cycle during the first stage, two cubes during the second, and nothing but medical grade in the final stage. I've been through this before, First Aid. I know what to do and expect." Ratchet assured him.

Optimus made a mental note to have Ratchet refresh his memory on what to expect.

"Sorry. I've had to tell Bluestreak and Smokescreen since this is their first time, and I had to refresh Jazz and Prowl's memory." First Aid replied.

Ratchet waved him off. "No problem."

"Since you work in medbay on a regular basis, I see no reason to set up a scheduled appointment. Check-ups can just be done in-between patients." First Aid told him.

Ratchet nodded. "Meaning in-between my brother's various disasters."

"Pretty much." The young medic agreed.

"Just out of curiosity, Ratchet, what did you mean when you said Smokescreen had a predisposition to have twins?" Optimus wondered if this would apply to them as well.

Ratchet turned his focus to the sire of the sparkling. "When a carrier is sparked in a set of spark twins, that carrier has a predisposition to end up carrying spark twins themselves. Since Smokescreen is a carrier and in a set of spark twins, he carries a predisposition to carry spark twins."

"So then you-" Optimus started.

Ratchet nodded. "I carry that same predisposition as well. In fact, I'll be shocked if it's not spark twins."

At least Optimus could prepare himself.

First Aid sighed. "I suppose I had better be prepared for four sets of twins then." He shook his helm. "Just what is with your family and twins?"

"I don't know, First Aid. We have a tendency to have twins." Ratchet replied.

First Aid wondered if it was too late to resign from his duties as a medic and become a soldier.

Ratchet closed his chest plates back. "In any case, First Aid, I'll leave the medbay to you for the time being. I'll resume my duties tomorrow, so you can have the day off. I'm fairly certain that you have done a great deal of work while I was incapacitated."

"You might say that, and I'll gladly take the day off. I'll leave all the medical files on your desk. Smokescreen and Bluestreak are both due for a check-up tomorrow." First Aid told him.

Ratchet nodded his helm in agreement before he hoped off the berth. "Come on, Optimus."

Optimus was a bit startled to find that Ratchet was giving him an order, but considering the horror stories he had heard about sparked bots and their emotional state, he chose not to argue as he followed the CMO out of the medbay. "And just where are we going?"

"Well, if I don't say a decent word to my carrier, she will have a fit. Besides, I'm quite certain she would like to know that I am sparked." Ratchet sighed. "That will be fun."

"Why?" Optimus didn't see the bad side to it.

"You'll find out when she does." Ratchet replied.

Optimus wondered what could be so bad about Starlight knowing that Ratchet was sparked, but chose not to question it. He himself was becoming rather excited at the fact that he had a sparkling, possibly two, on the way. At least his own creators would be off his back now.

Although the best part of all this, the Prime mused, was the fact that Ratchet was in love with him, had agreed to a relationship with him, and was now carrying his sparkling.

Primus was truly smiling on the Prime.

* * *

><p>Drop a review and let me know what you thought!<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Love all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

Smokescreen was in the middle of arranging a game of poker between himself, Jazz, Sideswipe, Epps, and another human soldier.

"Sure you don't want to play, Starlight? We all know that you have the money to do so." Jazz said, turning to grin at his mate's grand-carrier.

"I can assure you, Jazz, that playing poker is not something that I wish to do. I see no point in it. Besides, wouldn't Prowl lecture you if he found out that you were playing poker?" Starlight then shifted her optics to look at Smokescreen. "And won't he lecture you for starting the game?"

"Nah. Prowler won't do much of anything to either of us right now. Not with us both sparked. He fears sparked mechs far too much." Jazz replied.

"I see. So, you're using being sparked to get away with things." Starlight stated.

"Only time you can with Prowl. He's such a stick-in-the-mud." Sideswipe muttered.

"My sire is not a stick-in-the-mud, Sideswipe!" Bluestreak's sudden shout had the red twin jumping before he spun around to look at his mate.

Bluestreak was glaring harshly at Sideswipe.

"Uh, Blue, I, uh-" Sideswipe stuttered, starting toward Bluestreak.

"Don't." Nemesis stated.

Sideswipe didn't listen as he continued to make his way to the grey Praxian. "Come on, Blue. You know that I don't mean it."

"Oh, yes you did! You always do!" Bluestreak retorted.

Sunstreaker had slowly moved so that he was cowering behind Smokescreen, rather certain that Bluestreak wouldn't attempt to hurt his sparked uncle.

"Scared, I see." Smokescreen murmured.

"You haven't seen his outbursts. Been scarier than Ratchet." Sunstreaker replied.

"You should see Ratchet when he's sparked then." Starlight stated.

Sunstreaker felt a chill go through him at just the thought of how bad Ratchet could be when he was sparked. If regular pissed off Ratchet was bad, then sparked pissed off Ratchet would be absolutely terrifying.

"Come on, Blue. You know I don't mind Prowl at all." Sideswipe told him, edging closer to his currently pissed off mate.

Bluestreak glared at Sideswipe and then did something that was very reminiscent of Ratchet and proved that he truly was Ratchet's grand-creation. He grabbed the closest object to him, which happened to be a tool Ironhide had left behind when he had been calibrating his cannons, and threw it at Sideswipe.

The front liner hadn't expected something like that, so he ended up being hit square in the faceplates before falling back onto the ground with a groan of pain.

Bluestreak turned and stomped out of the rec room.

Smokescreen burst out laughing. "He's certainly part of carrier's family."

"Throwing objects?" Lennox asked.

"Shouting?" Sarah guessed.

"Death glares?" Epps piped in.

"Nope. Takes his anger out on others." Smokescreen replied. He snickered before adding, "Although all of your answers would work, too."

Jazz grinned. "But you've got to admit Sideswipe deserved that. And he was asking for it. Nemesis told him not to do it, for Primus' sake!"

"That would be because I remember what it was like when Alpha Trion was sparked. Not an easy time for him, and he always took his anger out on me." Nemesis stated.

"Because you were the one who put me in that position in the first place." Alpha Trion muttered, glancing up briefly from the datapad he was reading.

Sideswipe sat up and rubbed his faceplates in pain. "So, don't say anything that might upset Blue."

"That, and take it when he does get pissed at you. Saying something to him about his behavior will only make it worse." Nemesis stated.

Alpha Trion glared at his mate.

"I'm not referring to you!" Nemesis quickly assured him. "I just know that Praxians tend to react in complete anger toward their mate when they are sparked and upset. I'm looking at it from the way Praxians are when they carry."

"That's true." Smokescreen added. He waved Sideswipe back over. "Come on and join the game. You'll want to give Blue some time to calm down."

Sideswipe walked back over to rejoin the game while Sunstreaker came out of his hiding place.

"Praxians do react in anger and rage while carrying. We usually take out anger out on our mates, too." Smokescreen added.

"At least one of you paid attention when I explained those things."

Smokescreen turned and smiled at seeing his carrier back in the rec room. "Hi, Carrier! What's the good news?"

Ratchet sighed. "If you must know, I am sparked."

A sudden, audio splitting squeal erupted from Starlight.

Every mech, femme, male, and female cringed at the sudden sound. It was loud and painful, especially to Ratchet since medic's audios were finely tuned and probably the sharpest.

Optimus now understood why Ratchet dreaded telling Starlight that he was sparked. That noise had really hurt. He was glad that neither of his creators had acted like that.

To everyone's shock, Starlight immediately bounded over to Ratchet and pulled her son into a hug.

Everyone half-expected Ratchet to do what he did to everyone who dared to hug him and knock Starlight in the helm with a wrench. Then again, this was his carrier, so most of the mechs and femmes had a feeling that Ratchet wouldn't dare do anything to bring any kind of harm to his carrier.

"Oh, I'm so happy! I'm going to be a grand-creator!" Starlight's excitement was very obvious.

Ratchet mentally groaned. "Carrier, you've already got two grand-creations, plus one great-grand creation. On top of that, you now have four great grand-creations on the way along with two great-great grand-creations on the way."

"I know that, but that doesn't change a thing. I'm still excited about this." Starlight replied. She then let go of Ratchet and looked at him. "Now what did First Aid say?"

"Everything is fine, Carrier. Just a few breem along." Ratchet replied.

"That's wonderful!" Once more, Starlight's squeal was audio-wrenching.

Ratchet glanced at Optimus as if to say "this is why I dreaded telling her".

Optimus understood now why Ratchet was hesitant to tell his carrier. The Prime was certain that he had never heard such an audio-splitting sound outside of battle in his entire function. And that had been a long time.

Smokescreen looked over at his carrier. "Welcome to the ranks of the sparked, Carrier."

Ratchet sighed. "Smokescreen. Can it." With that, Ratchet turned and walked off. He figured that he's go and see his brother.

Optimus watched Ratchet go for a moment before deciding that the medic did not need him hanging around all the time. Besides, he needed to get caught up on everything that he had missed in the last few groon.

Nemesis glanced over at his son and grinned at Optimus the moment that he had his creation's attention. "I will wish you luck now, Orion. If Ratchet's normal temperament is anything to go on, then I would say that you're in for quite a bit of hell in the groons to come."

Optimus hadn't even considered that yet and now realized the downside to Ratchet being sparked, although that wasn't going to phase the Prime that much. He had too much to be happy about. Regardless, he needed to get caught up on everything that had happened. "Where is Prowl?"

"Prowler's in his office." Jazz answered.

Optimus turned and headed out. He stopped and glanced back. "And don't think I've forgotten how you all acted while I was being chased." He then left.

"Uh, you think he plans on doing something to all of us?" Sideswipe asked, a little wary.

"Not entirely sure." Hot Shot mused.

"Ah, what are all of you worrying about? This is Prime we're talking about. He's not going to do anything to us for all that. At best, he'll give us all a lecture." Smokescreen stated.

Nemesis wasn't quite so certain. He had seen how upset all the betting and taunts had gotten to Optimus, which meant that they were all in trouble.

:**How upset do you believe our son really is?**: Alpha Trion asked.

:**Very. I have a feeling that there will be more than a lecture to take place. Orion truly was upset at how we all reacted.**: Nemesis glanced over at Alpha Trion. :**And he'll be more than a little upset when he finds out that you were one of the ones who won the bet.**:

Alpha Trion sent calming waves to his mate. :**Well, I'm rather certain that Orion will calm down once he learns what I plan to do with the winnings. As it was done with the Earthlings' currency, I decided to let Colonel Lennox give my winnings to a charity organization. I felt that that was the best way to use mine. Those organizations need it more than I do.**:

:**Hmm. That will help you. I can't say much for the rest of them, though.**: Nemesis stated.

Alpha Trion nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>Ratchet approached where he knew his brother's lab was now. He figured that Wheeljack wasn't back to work yet, if his sire hadn't finished repairing him. If they weren't there, he'd know that they were in the infirmary. As he neared the lab, he could hear voices, meaning Wheeljack was still there.<p>

"I don't know why I let you talk me into this, Wheeljack. I really should have taken you back to the infirmary to check you over thoroughly." Swiftwind stated.

"Come on, Sire. There's nothing seriously wrong with me." Wheeljack protested.

Ratchet entered the lab to find that Wheeljack was on the floor with his sire reattaching his arm. "The only thing seriously wrong with you is your processors. Which are insane."

Wheeljack turned to find Ratchet standing there. "Hey, Ratch! I see that you're no longer chasing Prime! Suppose that means you're sparked now!" Wheeljack's headfins lit up in delight as he spoke, glad to see his brother back in his right processors.

"Yes. I am. And I've heard that you're driving First Aid insane. I'm glad to see that you're getting better about your explosions, though. First Aid said you've only had 10,287 explosions since you've been here. That's the lowest number in so few groon that I can remember." Ratchet remarked.

"Yeah. I've gotten better. Not having near as many explosions. Though Prowl's already threatened to ban me from my lab forever if I have as bad of an explosion as the one back in Iacon." Wheeljack said.

Ratchet snorted, leaning against the wall. "I don't blame him."

"Dare I ask." Swiftwind wasn't sure if he wanted to know why Prowl had said that.

"You remember how big the base back at Iacon was?" Ratchet asked.

"Of course." Swiftwind knew that it was an expansive base as it was the Autobots' headquarters.

"One of Wheeljack's first explosions there ended up demolishing half of the base. Wheeljack was suspected to be a Decepticon saboteur for a while." Ratchet stated. He shook his helm. "Most thought I was crazy when I tried to reassure them he wasn't."

"When they found out you were spark twins, did that affect the way some of them viewed you?" Swiftwind asked.

"The ones who didn't know me. Optimus and Ironhide had known me for a long time, and I had been a part of Optimus's personal team since the war started. They knew I wasn't a spy. Prowl had lived around Wheeljack so long that he knew that this was just how Wheeljack was." Ratchet replied.

"Didn't stop Prowl from throwing me in the brig." Wheeljack muttered.

"Do you blame him?" Ratchet shook his helm. "In any case, there were a few who wanted to do a thorough background on him. Once that proved he was truly an Autobot, Prowl ordered his lab be quadruple reinforced. He also isolated the lab."

Swiftwind laughed. "Sounds like a smart plan."

Wheeljack groaned.

"So, what did First Aid say?" Swiftwind asked.

"Other than the fact that I am actually sparked, nothing. It's too early for the sparkling's spark to have even emerged from my own, though I'm certainly sparked." Ratchet replied.

"Uh, just out of curiosity, what does that mean for you and Optimus?" Wheeljack asked, genuinely wanting to know.

Ratchet glanced at his brother. He had never kept his feelings for Optimus a secret from his brother. His creators obviously knew now as well. He supposed there was no harm in telling them. "If you really must know, Wheeljack, Optimus and I have decided to start a relationship as we share the same feelings."

"Glad to hear it! That sparkling needs to have its creators together!" Wheeljack seemed genuinely happy for his brothers.

Swiftwind chuckled. "When you were a sparkling, if somebot had told me that you would end up in a relationship with my best friend's son, I wouldn't have believed it."

"Well, you can look at it this way. You and your best friend are going to be sharing a grand-creation." Ratchet told him.

Swiftwind smiled. "Yes. I know. Alpha Trion and Nemesis are rather excited since this is their first one. I'm certain that Optimus is nervous, too. This will be his first time being a creator."

"Well, I'm more than certain that he's going to be all right. He has several on this base to go to for advice, and I have raised two myself. If I can raise two sparklings on my own, then I'm certain we can do it together." Ratchet stated.

Swiftwind still got upset at the reason why Ratchet had ended up raising Prowl and Smokescreen alone, though he made sure not to let his creation know that. He was grateful that he wouldn't have to worry about that in this case. Optimus wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

><p>"Prowl, give me one slagging good reason as to why I shouldn't make you go on patrol with the twins and work with them for the next five Earth years!"<p>

Prowl jumped at the threat of being forced to work with the two pit-spawned glitched that drove him to near madness. He whirled around to find himself facing Optimus. He had never seen the Prime look this angry before. "Uh, what are you, um, talking about, sir?" It was rare for Prowl to stutter, but seeing the look of anger on the Prime's face had done that to him.

"What am I talking about?" The Prime's tone was a bit dangerous. He made his way into the office, and the door slid shut behind him. "I'm talking about the fact that you gave me the wrong details in regard to Praxian mating cycles!"

Prowl jumped at that. He was certain that he had never had the Prime's anger thrown at him before. "I, uh, what?"

Optimus growled. "For Primus' sake, Prowl! You told me that an un-bonded Praxian in a mating cycle will want a sire that they trust to spark them! I thought that the only reason that Ratchet was chasing me was because he trusted me, and I didn't want to create a sparkling with a mech who didn't love me!"

"So, why did you?" Prowl asked, becoming a bit more confident.

Optimus growled. "Because Swiftwind told me that a Praxian in a mating cycle will want a sire that they are in **love **with to spark them! Ratchet wasn't chasing me just because he trusted me! He was chasing me because he was in love with me!"

Prowl was easily able to put two and two together. "So, I'm assuming that you were in love with him all along."

"Yes! If I had known that at the start of the mating cycle, I wouldn't have spent all this time running! And neither of us would feel humiliated by how we were acting!" Optimus snapped.

Prowl winced. "Sorry, Prime. The honest truth is that I don't know as much about mating cycles as other Praxians. I'm not a Praxian carrier, so I don't feel the need to know about them. And Jazz is Polyhexian, and they don't have mating cycles. So I didn't see why I needed to know about them." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Optimus. If I would have thought, I could have had you ask Swiftwind when they first arrived."

"Yes, you could have. That would have made things a lot better." Optimus retorted. He was still pretty pissed at Prowl for not thinking to at least get him to ask Swiftwind.

Prowl glanced at Optimus uneasily. "So, just out of curiosity, is my carrier sparked?"

"Yes, he is." Optimus figured that Prowl needed to know the rest. "And we've talked a bit and decided that we're going to start a relationship. Between having the same feelings and having a sparkling together, we decided that that was for the best."

Prowl nodded. He thought a moment before coming to a decision. "Just don't hurt him."

Optimus glanced up at the tactician, a little shocked.

Prowl sighed. "He's been hurt several times, Optimus. I've seen him get hurt, and I don't like it when he does. Despite his temperament, my carrier is a good mech. He's loyal and faithful."

"I know all that, Prowl, and I wouldn't do anything to hurt him. I know the type of mech that Ratchet is, and I know all that." Optimus stated.

"I just worry about him at times. He's not easy to live with. Trust me on that." Prowl remarked.

"I can imagine that, Prowl. I spent several vorn traveling through space with him in search of the AllSpark. I have lived with him. And I'm certain that I can handle it." Optimus stated. He was silent for a moment. "And I already know that some of Ratchet's temper and wrench-throwing are a defense mechanism for him. He doesn't let many get close as a means of protecting himself."

"Exactly. You'll find that there's a lot more to Ratchet than you have seen before." Prowl stated.

"I think that goes for everyone. But as far as Ratchet goes, you don't have to worry about anything. I don't plan on hurting him in any way." Optimus assured him.

Prowl nodded his helm. He did worry about his carrier a lot, but at least he knew that his carrier's spark was in good hands. After all, there were no safer hands for his carrier's spark than the Prime's.

"And don't think I've forgiven you for that, Prowl. I may be in a relationship with your carrier, but that doesn't change a thing." Optimus stated.

"Didn't expect it to. Smokescreen and I are not exempt from Ratchet and his wrenches. I will admit that we were adolescents before he started hitting us." Prowl shook his helm. "And Smokescreen was the first one of us to get hit."

"That I can see." Optimus decided he'd find out how to get back at Prowl later on. "In any case, I think you'd better catch me up on everything that has happened since this stated."

"Of course. I don't think I need to brief you on the Decepticon activity given the only battle you were present at." Prowl stated.

"Yes. I remember that quite clearly." Optimus was rather certain that he was going to remember that battle as long as he functioned. He'd never forget the sight of Ratchet kicking Soundwave's aft and then Megatron's.

Prowl then started to catch Optimus up on everything else that had happened while Optimus had been otherwise occupied.

* * *

><p>Swiftwind and Starlight knew that Optimus was now in his office trying to get himself caught up on his work as well as take some of the work off of Prowl. The two figured that they needed to give Optimus a few warnings about Ratchet while he was carrying.<p>

Optimus glanced up when he heard the door to his office opened and was a bit surprised to find Ratchet's creators entering. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes. We just thought we needed to give you a little advice about Ratchet while he carries." Starlight answered.

Optimus had a foreboding feeling at those words and had a feeling that he wasn't going to be too thrilled about what he was about to be told. "And what would that be?"

Starlight sat down across from Optimus. "You already know that Ratchet has both Polyhexian and Praxian coding."

"Yes. I'm aware. It's why he has the mating cycle." Optimus replied.

"Well, Praxians and Polyhexians have two very different reactions to carrying." Swiftwind stated.

Optimus sighed. "I have a feeling I'm screwed regardless of what you say, so just say it."

"All right. You are screwed." Swiftwind stated.

"Swiftwind!" Starlight's voice was warning.

Optimus sighed. "Just tell me."

"All right. Both tend to react to even small things emotionally. It could be something as simple as something not right in a room. Polyhexians tend to have emotional fits of crying and insecurity. Praxians tend to react with anger and violence. Normally at their mate." Starlight stated.

"Or in this case, the sire." Swiftwind put in.

"So, Ratchet will act normally at times." Optimus surmised.

"Consider it like Ratchet at the worst you have ever seen him multiplied by about a trillion." Swiftwind replied.

Optimus grimaced. "I'm screwed regardless."

"Pretty much." Swiftwind agreed.

"We just thought we should forewarn you. It wasn't easy on any of us when Ratchet carried Prowl and Smokescreen, Wheeljack especially. Ratchet's anger always seemed to be targeted at Wheeljack." Starlight stated.

Optimus didn't understand that one. He was fairly certain that Wheeljack wasn't Prowl and Smokescreen's sire. Then again, he knew that Prowl and Smokescreen's sire had never been a part of their lives. "Thank you for telling me. I suppose I'll need to prepare myself."

"That would be a good idea. And if you do make Ratchet upset, just know that you won't know if he'll react in anger or break down crying." Swiftwind stated.

"That will be a new one for me." Optimus remarked.

"It was for us, too." Starlight assured him.

"You'll be fine. Trust me." Swiftwind chose not to tell Optimus that he had survived it twice. After all, he did want to live long enough to see his grand-creations born.

"I hope so." Optimus was very nervous about becoming a creator since this would be the first time that he had a sparkling. He just didn't know how well he would do in raising one.

* * *

><p>Ratchet had returned to his quarters and immediately got himself a cube of energon from the dispenser in his quarters. He was glad that his brother had managed to find a way to make energon from what was found on the planet. It meant that they didn't have to rely on solar energy, which wasn't as efficient as energon, and they weren't going to have to ration out energon any longer, either.<p>

Ratchet sat down in one of the chairs in the room as he started to sip at the energon and think. He had to admit that he had acted rather foolish while under the influence of the mating cycle, but that was to be expected. All Praxians acted in such a way while under the influence of the mating cycle. He also would admit that he was stunned at what he had managed to do to Soundwave and Megatron. He had never thought that he would end up doing something like that in his entire life.

Of course, the greatest surprise for the medic was that Optimus actually returned his feelings. He hadn't thought that the Prime would ever feel the same way about him that he felt about the Prime. That was why he had never told Optimus how he felt. He had feared being rejected, and he hadn't wanted to ruin their friendship.

Ratchet sighed as he set the cube of energon down. He needed to talk to Optimus some more about all of this.

:_Grand-carrier, are you in your quarters?_:

Ratchet was a little surprised at the sudden question from Bluestreak. He normally had to accept transmissions. Then again, he answered transmissions from his family so much that it was second-nature to just let them in. :_Yes, I am, Bluestreak._:

:_Can I come and see you?_: Bluestreak asked.

:_Of course, Bluestreak._: Ratchet had never turned his grand-creation away when he needed to talk, and he didn't plan to do so now.

It wasn't long before Bluestreak entered his quarters.

"What is it, Bluestreak?" Ratchet could easily tell that the young mech was distressed about something.

"Primus, Grand-Carrier! I'm scared!" Bluestreak sounded more upset than he looked.

Ratchet had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Come here."

Bluestreak immediately launched himself into his grand-carrier's arms and buried his face into Ratchet's chest as he started crying.

Ratchet wasn't unused to this reaction. In fact, he had had to deal with the exact same reaction from Jazz when he had found out that he was carrying Bluestreak. "It's okay, Bluestreak. It's going to be fine." The chartreuse mech patted his grand-creation's back.

"No, it's not. I don't think that I can do this. There's no way that I can be a good creator. I know Carrier and Sire have both assured me that I will be a good creator, but I know I won't." Bluestreak held on tightly to his grand-carrier.

Ratchet pulled Bluestreak tighter against him. "They are right, Bluestreak. You are going to be fine. No one expects you to know everything there is about raising a sparkling. That's why when you're unsure you can come to any of us who have raised sparklings before for advice."

"But what if I do something wrong? What if I raise them wrong? What if they end up hating me?" Bluestreak would have continued babbling on with the what ifs.

Ratchet smiled. "Bluestreak, everyone has their doubts the first time that they are having a sparkling."

Bluestreak looked up at Ratchet, tears in his optics. "Even you?"

Ratchet laughed. "My case was a bit different, as you well know. But yes, I was scared the first time around. I didn't know anything about raising sparklings. I was in my final stellar cycle of my medical training and hadn't planned things out. I was terrified. My carrier and creator reassured me everything would be fine. And they were right. Prowl and Smokescreen turned out all right."

"But that doesn't mean I will do as well." Bluestreak protested.

Ratchet chuckled. "You remind me of your carrier right now."

Bluestreak looked startled.

"Blue, Jazz and Prowl were also terrified when they first learned that Jazz was carrying you. In fact, Jazz was more of a wreck than you are. He came up with a thousand different reasons as to why he would be a horrible creator. Prowl did as well. And I'll tell you the exact same thing I'm telling you. There's no real right or wrong way to raise sparklings. Everyone has their own way. The way Jazz and Prowl raised you is vastly different from how I raised Prowl and Smokescreen. But it worked for them. And when they were uncertain, they would come to me or my creators or Jazz's creators. It never hurts to ask advice." Ratchet assured him.

"Do you think I'll manage it?" Bluestreak asked.

"Yes, I do. You'll be fine, Blue. And you're going to have Sideswipe and Sunstreaker there to help you." Ratchet added.

"Do you think they're ready?" Bluestreak asked.

"I think they're more ready than they let on. They act like complete idiots at times, and you know I say that with the deepest affection." Ratchet said.

Bluestreak laughed, knowing his grand-carrier truly did care about his mates, even if the twins drove him to near insanity.

"But Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are much more mature than they lead others to believe. They'll rise to the challenge, Bluestreak. You three will be fine." Ratchet gave his grand-creation a squeeze. "And you have several that you can come to for advice."

"Thanks. Carrier and Sire told me I'd be fine, but I'm just scared." Bluestreak told him.

"I know. Most new creators are scared, and I think that helps. It makes them ready for anything." Ratchet smiled. "Trust me, Blue. Everything is going to be fine."

Bluestreak nodded before glancing at Ratchet. "Are you scared now, though?"

"In a way. I suppose most are worried when they first learn that they are sparked regardless of whether they've been sparked before or not. I know what to expect, so I'm not as worried." Ratchet answered.

Bluestreak smiled. "Is it twins again? I know you have that more likelihood of having twins."

"It's too early to tell, Blue. The sparklings spark hasn't emerged from my own yet. We'll know in a few breem." Ratchet answered.

"And you and Optimus?" Bluestreak asked.

Ratchet glanced at him. "You're nosy today."

"I've always been nosy!" Bluestreak retorted. He then realized just how that sounded.

Ratchet laughed. "Glad to hear you finally admit it."

Bluestreak huffed. "That was cruel."

"No. That was me finally getting you to admit a truth about yourself that you have denied for too long." Ratchet replied. He chuckled again. "But in answer to your inquiry, I have spoken to Optimus, and we have discovered that we share the same feelings for each other. We have decided that we will start a relationship."

Bluestreak smiled brightly. "That's great, Grand-Carrier! You've been alone for far too long! I know Sire and Carrier have talked about it before, and they always were worried about you being alone! They wanted you to find someone for so long and now you actually have! It's so great! I just can't believe that it's the Prime! I mean, you can't find better than him! We all know that Optimus is loyal and kind and gentle and compassionate and-"

Ratchet was rather certain that Bluestreak would have rambled on had he not put his hand over Bluestreak's mouth. "I get the point, Bluestreak."

"It is great, though." Bluestreak said.

Ratchet smiled. "Yes. I suppose it is."

* * *

><p>Optimus had wanted to talk to Ratchet, so the Prime decided to go to Ratchet's quarters. He arrived at the medic's quarters and was about to comm him when the door automatically opened. Taking that as an invitation to come in, Optimus entered the quarters. He found Ratchet sitting in a chair with a datapad in his hand. "Can't get away from work can you?"<p>

Ratchet glanced up. "This coming from the mech who has to have an order from the CMO just to take a cycle off so that he doesn't burn out his systems?"

"This coming from the master of overworking?" Optimus teased back.

Ratchet smiled. "Touché."

Optimus walked over. "So, are you working or what?"

"I suppose I am. I was just reading over Jazz, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen's medical files so I can be up to date on everything that is going on with them. Bluestreak and Smokescreen became sparked around the same time, so they'll be going into labor around the same time." Ratchet replied.

Optimus sat down by Ratchet on the couch. "Just hope that they don't go into labor at the same time."

"That will be my luck. Lucky for us I am almost a full stage behind them, so that'll be good. Jazz will be a few groon later, which will give the medical staff about three groon between Jazz and myself." Ratchet replied.

"And three mechs before you so that they'll know what to do when you're in labor." Optimus added.

"True. They know the fundamentals of what to do, but they say there's nothing like hands-on experience. And I agree." Ratchet stated.

"So do I." Optimus agreed before he leaned in and kissed Ratchet.

Ratchet was a little surprised by the sudden kiss, but accepted it anyway as he started to kiss the Prime back. Who was he to question his Prime when he wanted a kiss? Especially since the medic found that he loved being kissed by the red and blue mech.

Optimus then broke the kiss. "Sorry. After being in love with you for so long, it's nice to know that I can kiss you without the fear of having my helm bashed in."

"I wouldn't have done that." Ratchet retorted.

"Yeah, but I didn't know that." Optimus replied.

"Hmm." Ratchet glanced at the Prime. "And was there a particular reason you came here, or was it solely to seduce me?"

"Look who's talking about seducing." Optimus shot back.

Ratchet had the decency to look a bit embarrassed. "You're the only one that's going to get away with teasing me about the mating cycle. Mainly because you are probably just as humiliated at how you act to act as I am."

"That's true." Optimus agreed. He shook his helm. "I could really mangle Prowl for telling me the wrong thing. If I didn't know Prowl as well as I do, I would think that he did it just for his own personal amusement."

"Prowl wouldn't do that." Ratchet stated.

"Because of regulations?" Optimus asked.

"No. Because he knows I would kill him." Ratchet answered.

"True enough." Optimus glances over. "I had several members of your family come talk to me today. Prowl was simply asking me not to hurt you, and your creators were warning me of how you may act while carrying."

Ratchet sighed. "Prowl has always worried about me. I admit I had a few bad relationships while they were young." At Optimus's concerned look, he continued quickly. "Nothing abusive or anything. Just relationships that went wrong."

"Well, I can see why he asked me that." Optimus murmured.

"What exactly did my creators say?" Ratchet asked.

"Mainly they explained to me that Praxians and Polyhexians had two very different reactions to carrying. They just told me you could react either way." Optimus answered.

"That is true. I could react either way." Ratchet sighed. "The first time I broke down crying as a reaction to something I think they all nearly had spark attacks. You'd think they'd never seen a mech cry before."

"Well, it was pretty odd to see you cry, Ratchet. It's rare that you allow yourself to do so in front of others." Optimus pointed out.

"True." Ratchet agreed. He set the datapads aside. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"Well, I just thought that we could talk. We are in a relationship now, and I thought that we could discuss what we both expect." Optimus said.

Ratchet could agree more.

The two talked for quite some time about what they both wanted out of the relationship, which turned out to be mostly the same things.

And the two eventually ended the night in Ratchet's berth room.

"Seems like this is what we spent the last few breem doing this." Ratchet murmured in between kisses.

"True, but it is fun." Optimus smirked. "And I did say I agreed with your notion that the hands-on approach is the best."

"Pervert." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus chuckled. "You're going to find out a lot about me that you didn't know before."

"Right back at you." Ratchet replied.

Words were lost as the two ended up interfacing throughout the night.

* * *

><p>Drop a review and let me know what you thought!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 10<p>

"So, how is Optimus?"

**CLANK!**

"Ow!" Hot Shot grabbed his helm before he looked over at his mate's carrier. "Ratchet! Why did you do that to me!"

Ratchet glared first at his son-in-law and then at his son. "I did that to you because my son doesn't know when to keep his trap shut, and he's sparked, so I'd never hit him! Hence, **YOU **pay the price for his mouth and his actions!"

Hot Shot cringed at those words. He knew that his mate had a tendency to piss Ratchet off, which meant that he had better be ready to deal with a lot of processor-aches in the future.

**CLANK!**

"Ow!"

"Carrier! I didn't say anything!" Smokescreen was shocked. While he knew that his carrier had a tendency to hit others when they pissed him off, he had never hit anyone for no reason at all.

Ratchet glared at Smokescreen. "**That** was for your involvement in that slagging bet! That wasn't something to be betted on! And I can't believe that you would agree to do something like this!"

Smokescreen cringed. One of these days he was going to learn to never bet on something that involved his carrier. It never ended well for him. Or in this case, it wasn't ending that well for his mate. And Smokescreen most certainly didn't want his mate being hit with his carrier's wrenches as a result of his actions.

Ratchet moved over to his medical tools and made sure he had what he needed before turning back to Smokescreen. "All right, Smokescreen. Open your chest plates."

Smokescreen did as he was asked, opening his chest plates for his carrier.

Ratchet examined first Smokescreen's spark and then the gestation chamber. "The sparks have already moved into your gestation chamber. That's good. It means that you are where you need to be. You also need to start taking in two cubes of medical grade a cycle. The best way is to have a cube with your morning energon and with your night energon." Ratchet told him.

"All right, Carrier." Smokescreen was glad to hear that things were going normally.

"And just so that you're aware, during the second stage, you're going to experience a build-up of energy. Since your systems were storing up a great deal of energy to make the sparklings' protoforms in the first stage, you're going to have an excess of energy during the second stage. The excess of energy will make it rather difficult for you to recharge." Smokescreen told him.

"Is there anything we can do to help him get rid of the energy?" Hot Shot asked, worried about his mate and their sparklings.

"Oh, yes. It's rather simple. Interface with him." Ratchet stated.

"What!" Hot Shot and Smokescreen were shocked to hear Ratchet say that they were supposed to interface to help Smokescreen get rid of the excess energy.

"Interfacing is the safest way to get rid of the extra energy. It'll last throughout the majority of the second stage." Ratchet told them.

"So, we're being told by a medic to interface?" Hot Shot asked.

"Yes." Ratchet then turned back to Smokescreen and finished the examination. "Everything is going good, Smokescreen."

Smokescreen nodded as he closed his chest plates.

"Get going." Ratchet told them.

The two mechs then stood up and left.

"By the way, Carrier, you never did tell me how Optimus was."

A wrench went sailing through the air.

**CLANK!**

"Ow!" Hot Shot grabbed Smokescreen before dragging him out of the infirmary.

:**What are you doing, Hot Shot?**: Smokescreen asked.

:**I'm tired of being hit by wrenches! There's a reason that I do everything in my power not to piss off your carrier! I don't like being hit by wrenches. I'm not like Wheeljack. I don't like being on the receiving end of Ratchet's wrath.**: Hot Shot replied.

Ratchet shook his helm as he watched his son and his son's mate leave the infirmary. He wondered why Smokescreen had to be so nosy.

Besides, there was no way that Ratchet was going to talk about what it was like to interface with Optimus to **ANYBOT**. It was no bot's business but his own that he thought Optimus was wonderful in the berth. Probably the best interfacing he had ever had in his long life.

* * *

><p>Optimus was working hard to get caught back up with everything that he had missed while he was running from Ratchet as a result of the mating cycle. The Prime still had not entirely forgiven Prowl for the misinformation he had been given by the tactician. The Prime could have saved himself a lot of running, energy, and mortification if he had had the right information to start with.<p>

Optimus forced those thoughts from his processors. What was done was done, and there was nothing that he could do about it. Instead, the red and blue Autobot leader turned his focus back to all of the reports that he had missed while he was otherwise occupied.

Optimus supposed that he could be grateful that there were no government officials who had come to the base while he was busy running away from Ratchet. That would have been rather embarrassing and difficult to explain to them about why he was running away from the Autobot CMO. Lennox and the rest of the NEST team the Prime could deal with knowing all of this. Any other type of official would have been a bit too much for the Prime to deal with.

Optimus had chosen not to read over the medical reports dealing with Wheeljack. After all, they were almost always the same thing. Something that Wheeljack invented backfired on him, and he ended up blowing himself up. The injuries varied from minor dents and frayed circuitry to the inventor losing a limb or two that ended up having to be reattached or replaced. The medic, who normally was Ratchet but was First Aid and Swiftwind in this instance, always managed to keep Wheeljack functioning. Most of the time, the inventor ended up back in his lab and blowing himself up again within a few joor.

Optimus sighed. He supposed that he was going to have to get used to Wheeljack. After all, he was now having a sparkling or two with Wheeljack's spark twin and was in a relationship with said twin.

There was a knock at the Prime's office door.

Optimus was a bit startled as he normally was able to sense when anyone, Autobot or human, were coming to his office. He must have been more lost in his thoughts than he had originally assumed he was. He immediately knew who it was, though. "Come in, Colonel Lennox."

The door to the Prime's office opened, and Lennox walked in. He walked around the desk so that he could see Optimus better.

"Is there something I can do for you, Colonel?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah. Are you sure that this whole mating cycle thing is over?" Lennox asked.

Optimus couldn't imagine the horror that Lennox had gone through considering the fact that the man was on leave when it all originally started, and he ended up returning to a mess. "I am fairly certain of that, Colonel. The mating cycle ends for them when they are sparked or the six groon are up. Since all three of them are sparked, it is definitely over."

"And no others are going to go through this, right?" Lennox asked.

"As far as I am aware, there are no other groups of Cybertronians other than Praxians who have mating cycles. And there are very few Praxians left. On Earth, Smokescreen, Prowl, Bluestreak, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Swiftwind are the only remaining Praxians. Of those, only Ratchet, Smokescreen, and Bluestreak are Praxian carriers. They are the only ones who would have a mating cycle, and they are all sparked now." Optimus answered.

"Will this happen again in my lifetime?" Lennox asked.

"That I am not sure about. Ratchet or Swiftwind would be the easiest ones to ask that one." Optimus answered. Since he was involved with Ratchet now, that was something that the Prime was going to have to find out as well.

**BOOM!**

"WHEELJACK!"

Lennox cringed at the familiar shout from Ratchet. "You know, I think I'll ask Swiftwind. He doesn't have Ratchet's temper."

"Indeed." Had Optimus not been present when Swiftwind and Starlight discussed the fact that there were other members of their family who had bad tempers, Optimus would have wondered where Ratchet had gotten his bad temper from. After all, Swiftwind and Starlight were both rather calm bots with no signs of Ratchet's temper.

Lennox sighed. "How many are you and Ratchet having?"

"We're not sure. It'll be a bit longer before we'll know that. Although Ratchet did tell me that there's a high chance that he's going to end up with twins." Optimus replied.

Lennox replied. "Just let me know. I need to know how many sparklings we're going to have running around base."

"Of course." Optimus replied.

"Optimus, I could have sworn that Ratchet told me that twins were rare in your society, but there's three possibly four sets just in this short time." Lennox remarked.

"Ah! That depends on the type of twins you are referring to." Optimus told him.

Lennox looked up at the Prime, a look of misunderstanding on his face. "I don't follow."

"Perhaps we should go visit Ratchet. I'm fairly certain that he can explain it to you much easier than I can." Optimus stated.

"Great. Have to see him anyway." Lennox muttered as he turned and headed out of the office.

Optimus rose and followed. He had to admit that he had an ulterior motive for going. He just simply wanted to see Ratchet again.

* * *

><p>"OW! OW! OW! THAT HURTS!" Wheeljack cringed as he felt Ratchet tug rather roughly at a few of the damaged wires in his back struts. He was lying on his abdominal plating on one of the medical berths while Ratchet set out to fix his injuries.<p>

"It's your own fault, Wheeljack. They taught you safety procedures back in the science academy, but do you take them to spark and put them into practice? No! You have to do things the dangerous way and nearly blow yourself to an early deactivation! One of these cycles I am not going to be able to save you from your stupidity, and you are going to online to find yourself facing Primus himself!" Ratchet snapped at him even as he reached over and grabbed one of his tools to remove the burned out circuitry to replace it.

Wheeljack was quiet, remembering what Ratchet was like when he was sparked. The inventor certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of Ratchet's ire too much while he was sparked. It just wouldn't end well for him in the end.

"Is this a bad time?"

Ratchet turned toward Optimus's voice and found Optimus and Lennox standing there. "Is it something medical?"

"No." Optimus considered that a moment. "Well, sort of. Colonel Lennox had a few questions that he would like to ask you."

"Go ahead. I can answer them while I put my brother back in working order." Ratchet told him.

Lennox figured he might as well start with the quick one. "I know that you, Smokescreen, and Bluestreak are the only Praxians who could go into these mating cycles. Would you go into another one in my lifetime?"

"Your lifetime, possibly. Though you'd probably be a great-grandfather by that time." Ratchet answered. He continued working. "While most Cybertronians would not have another sparkling for roughly one hundred and fifty Earth years, Praxians tend to have sparklings more quickly. However, another mating cycle wouldn't happen for about fifty or sixty of your years." Ratchet answered.

"Good. I'll be retired by then." Lennox stated.

"Indeed." Ratchet managed to replace the burnt out circuitry and set the splice together some of the salvageable circuitry. He'd be working on his brother for a bit. "Your next question."

"Yeah. When you originally explained to me about you guys have kids, you mentioned that twins were actually rare. I just wondered why all four of you are having twins if they are so rare." Lennox answered.

"Ah! Twins themselves are not rare. Spark twins are quite common, actually. Split-spark twins are rare." Ratchet answered.

"There's a difference?" Lennox asked.

"Indeed." Ratchet considered the best way to explain it without overloading the man's brain. "You could liken it to dizygotic twins and monozygotic twins."

"What?" Lennox didn't even have the first clue as to what he was talking about.

Ratchet sighed. "That is Earth terminology, Colonel Lennox."

"Not my terminology. Could you put it in laymen's terms?" Lennox asked.

That seemed to be all that Ratchet did when talking to humans. "I believe the common reference is fraternal twins and identical twins."

"Oh." Lennox still didn't see where this was going.

Ratchet was getting annoyed that he was going to have to do a brief human biology lesson. This was something that the man should have already known. "In short, dizygotic twins-fraternal twins- are when two of the eggs in a woman's uterus are fertilized at the same time. With monozygotic twins-identical twins-only one egg was fertilized and it ended up splitting to form two babies."

"Okay. I'm following you."

"You can liken split-spark twins to monozygotic twins and spark twins to dizygotic twins." Ratchet told him.

"So, with spark twins, it's like there's two sparks at the same time and not so with split-spark twins?" Lennox asked.

"Exactly. With split-spark twins, there is originally only one spark. At about the fourth or fifth groon of the first stage, if split-spark twins are going to come about, the spark will usually split. Split-spark twins are extremely rare. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are split-spark twins as are Skids and Mudflap. The fact that Jazz and Prowl are having split-spark twins is rare. Spark twins are rather common. Wheeljack and I are spark twins, in fact." Ratchet stated.

"Okay. So you, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen are all having spark twins." Lennox stated.

"Yes. We are. They are the common type of twins. It's not odd to have spark twins." Ratchet assured. While he had been talking, Ratchet had ended up repairing all of Wheeljack's injuries. He replaced the inventor's armor plating. "All right, Wheeljack. You can go."

"Thanks, Ratch!" The inventor hopped off the medical berth and headed out the door.

Ratchet shook his helm. "He'll be back in here before the day's over."

Lennox was glad that he finally understood the difference in spark twins and split-spark twins. It made what Ratchet said a lot easier to understand. "Well, thanks for answering my questions."

"Of course, Colonel Lennox. Feel free to come to me if you have any further questions." Ratchet replied.

"I will." Lennox turned and left the infirmary.

Ratchet then turned to face Optimus. "And you came why?"

Optimus smiled. "I just wanted to see you." He then reached out and took hold of the medic before pulling Ratchet close enough to kiss him.

Ratchet relaxed into the gentle kiss and kissed the Prime back. "And the fact that it got you out of your work had nothing to do with it." Ratchet remarked once they broke apart.

"Hmm. That's an added bonus." Optimus replied before leaning in and kissing Ratchet again.

A catcall had the two jumping apart.

"Guess Prime's pretty good after all."

"SMOKESCREEN!"

Smokescreen had already run.

Ratchet growled. "So help me I am going to offline him as soon as he delivers."

"And what did he mean by that?" Optimus asked.

"Simply that he's trying to pry into parts of my life that do not concern him." Ratchet retorted.

Optimus wondered what that meant, but chose not to ask. He figured that he didn't need to do anything that might make Ratchet angry at him.

* * *

><p>"YOU WERE WHAT!"<p>

Swiftwind, Starlight, Nemesis, and Alpha Trion all cringed at the loud shout from Ratchet and realized that they had not thought it through when they had made the decision to join in the betting.

"How could you join in on that Pit-forsaken bet! For Primus' sake! They were betting on whether or not we would end up interfacing! And they were betting on whether or not I would end up sparked! Those are not things to be betted on! They are serious issues that should be considered serious!" Ratchet snarled.

"We know, Ratchet. We all know that spark merging and having a sparkling are serious issues." Starlight told Ratchet gently.

"Then why in the seven Pits would you think it was a good idea to bet on whether or not I would end up sparked!" Ratchet growled.

"Lapse in judgment?" Nemesis offered.

Ratchet growled.

Optimus was very glad that he was not on the receiving end of Ratchet's anger. He never enjoyed being the one that Ratchet was angry at, but he was really glad that the medic was handling letting their creators have it. It saved him from having to do it.

"And for two of you to have actually won the bet is outrageous! How could you possibly get any joy out of that! I was acting in a way that was completely uncharacteristic of me! I looked like a complete fool in front of every bot and human on this base!" When he noticed that Starlight was about to protest, he continued, "And don't deny it! I did look foolish!"

"I believe it was more complete and utter shock that you could act that way, Ratchet. You always appeared in control, gruff, and they had never seen you like that." Swiftwind stated.

Ratchet growled. "I don't care how they felt! The fact is that I look foolish in the way I acted, and I'm rather certain that Optimus felt foolish at the fact he had to run from me for all that time! And I know that he didn't appreciate the way everyone teased him for it!"

Once more, the four flinched at the anger that was evident in Ratchet's tone.

Optimus merely leaned back and let Ratchet do all the yelling. After all, the medic was far more qualified to strike fear into the sparks of their creators than he was. Optimus probably wouldn't manage to scare them much while Ratchet probably would have them refusing to ever think of teasing them again.

"Would it help if I mentioned that I'm planning to ask Colonel Lennox to take my winnings and give them to various human charity organizations?" Starlight asked.

Ratchet's glare was a clear answer.

"Didn't think so." Starlight muttered.

"Honestly! One would think you'd have a bit more sympathy for your own creations!" With that, Ratchet turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

"So, given how Ratchet is, how bad was that?" Alpha Trion asked, looking at Starlight and Swiftwind.

"I've seen him worse." Swiftwind replied.

"Meaning that he's probably not done with us." Starlight added.

Alpha Trion and Nemesis groaned at that.

Optimus smirked behind his mask. He had enjoyed seeing Ratchet rip into them, although he expected that Ratchet wasn't done with them. He wondered what else the medic could say.

Nemesis glanced at Optimus. "You know, the sire is the one that's supposed to be on the receiving end of a carrier's anger, not the grand-creators."

"I'm not the one that pissed him off, either. Besides, I really don't think that being sparked had anything to do with the way that he acted now." Optimus stated.

"He's right. If Ratchet had been reacting with the added anger of being sparked, it would have been a lot worse." Starlight agreed.

"How much worse?" Nemesis asked.

"Surrender to the Decepticons worse." Swiftwind replied.

Nemesis and Alpha Trion both cringed at the thought.

Optimus personally thought that they deserved the fear that they were feeling now.

* * *

><p>Optimus sat in a chair in his quarters with a datapad in hand. He was currently working out the schedule in a way that would make every mech on the base miserable. After all, they deserved some kind of punishment for how they acted. It was rare that the Prime used his position in a way to punish the mechs under his command for a trick they played on him, but he was making an exception this time around.<p>

Almost out of nowhere, arms wrapped around the Prime's shoulders before a pair of lips was pressed to the back of his neck.

Optimus stopped what he was doing as he leaned back into the touch, offlining his optics and allowing a small moan to escape him. "One wouldn't think that you were this insatiable, Ratchet."

Ratchet chuckled. "I told you there was a lot that you didn't know about me. And one of them is that I like interfacing. Just because I don't indulge in casual interfacing like some of the other Autobots do, it doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. Besides, I haven't heard you complaining yet."

"Hmm. Few would complain when they are able to have multiple overloads in one night with their partner every night." Optimus replied.

"True." Ratchet then peered over the Prime's shoulder at the datapad he held. "I thought Prowl normally made the duty schedule."

"He does, but I thought I'd do it." Optimus replied, onlining his optics and looking at the schedule.

Ratchet noticed how some mechs were paired up. "You do realize that Prowl's going to have Sideswipe and Sunstreaker mangled. And Ironhide being paired with Skids and Mudflap isn't much better."

"I know." Optimus replied. He shook his helm. "I don't have the freedom that you do to get revenge. I do have a reputation to uphold."

Ratchet smirked before he walked around the Prime and took the datapad from him before plopping himself into the Prime's lap. "I have a much better idea on how to get back at them all. And I can do it all at once."

Optimus looked at his lover and realized that he was talking to the master of revenge. After all, he had had to deal with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's complaints about what Ratchet would do to them in retaliation to some of the things that the terror twins did to him. "And what exactly did you have in mind?"

Ratchet smirked. "Don't worry about a thing, Orion. You can be completely free from blame if you don't know anything. Just leave all of this to me."

"Plausible deniability?" Optimus presumed.

"Precisely." Ratchet smiled. "Don't worry. They'll regret it when I'm done with them."

"Can you promise me that they are all going to be in fighting condition should Megatron decide to do something sinister?" Optimus asked.

"Of course." Ratchet decided not to mention that they might be mentally scarred when the medic was finished with his revenge.

* * *

><p>All of the Autobots had been gathered together in one of the large hangers by the order of the CMO. They were all grumbling about being forced to come to this lecture that Ratchet was giving.<p>

As CMO, Ratchet had the authority to call all of the Autobots together for whatever he deemed a necessary lecture. He did have the authority to demand some form of punishment for any bot who chose not to be present at anything he ordered. Granted, Ratchet normally dealt out punishment himself.

There were some who figured that this was simply Ratchet lecturing them about keeping what they saw while he was under the influence of the mating cycle to themselves while others figured that this was some kind of lecture on sparking and sparklings since there were now four mechs on the base that were now carrying.

Ratchet hid a smirk as he watched all of the mechs assemble. Oh, they were all going to regret ever messing with Optimus the way they had. No one messed with his lover and got away with it.

After all, there was a reason that no one really messed with Wheeljack, Prowl, Smokescreen, or Bluestreak other than Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. Those two could get away with it because they were bonded to Bluestreak. No one else messed with them because they knew that Ratchet would come after them with his arsenal of wrenches in hand. Optimus would now be added to the list.

Although that wouldn't save them from this.

Ratchet walked out in front of the group. "Thank you for coming. I know that I kept the topic of this lecture quiet, but I wanted it to be a surprise when I began the talk."

Everyone listened as they knew that they'd get a wrench thrown at them if they looked like they were not listening or starting to slip into recharge.

"Since all of you seem to have had such a good time laughing at Optimus and myself, I thought that I would give you a lecture on Praxian mating cycle." Ratchet stated.

"Most of us are not Praxian." Hot Spot protested.

"I am well aware of that." Ratchet scanned the room. "Perhaps you should have thought of that **BEFORE **you decided that teasing Optimus about all this and started a slagging bet was a **GOOD **idea!"

Everyone knew that they weren't going to get out of this and settled in for the long haul.

What no one knew was that Ratchet not only intended to give them a lecture about the Praxian mating cycle, but also about interfacing, spark merging, sparking, gestation, and delivery.

And Ratchet was known for going into great detail when giving such lectures.

* * *

><p>"Do you think that perhaps you were a bit cruel, Ratchet?" Optimus had seen the expression on some of the bots' faces and knew that they most likely weren't going to be doing interfacing of any type for a long, long, long time.<p>

"Hardly. It will teach them to use something so serious to get entertainment. Perhaps they'll actually think before they make such bets ever again." Ratchet took a drink of his energon. "Besides, I do love to see those expressions when I'm done."

Optimus looked at the devilish smirk on his medic's face before shaking his head. "You have a bit of a sadistic side to you, Ratchet."

Ratchet chuckled. "I know. I love tormenting them. The only reason I haven't tormented Sideswipe and Sunstreaker into leaving me alone is because of Bluestreak."

Optimus smiled. "I have to admit that expression on their faceplates was enjoyable. Especially after everything they put me thought." He gently trailed his fingers down Ratchet's back from the chartreuse medic sat in the Prime's lap.

"See. Even you have a sadistic side." Ratchet pointed put.

"I suppose we all have the ability to be that way. As long as we don't take it as far as Megatron and the Decepticons do." Optimus mused.

"I may do that, but I don't cause physical harm." Ratchet replied.

"You just leave mental scars." Optimus replied.

"That type of education is good for them. Even if did traumatize them for a while. Besides, Smokescreen, Hot Shot, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Bluestreak could use the education given the fact that they are having their first sparklings. And Jazz and Prowl could use a refresher since it has been a while since they had Bluestreak." Ratchet then glanced at his lover. "And I know that it's been a while since you had that course back on Cybertron before the war, so you probably could deal with refreshing your processors on the subject."

"Probably." Optimus smiled. "I honestly don't think that we're going to have to deal with anymore teasing."

"That was the point." Ratchet replied. He finished the cube of energon before he set the cube down.

"Hmm. I think I'll just leave all my payback to you now." Optimus stated.

Ratchet laughed. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that. You know that most of the bots here don't mess with my family members because they know I'll come after them. You've been added to the list."

Optimus smiled. "Really?"

Ratchet nodded his helm.

"Well, in that case-" Optimus rose, holding Ratchet bridle style in his arms.

"Orion! What are you doing?" Ratchet arms had instinctively wrapped around Optimus's neck.

"Well, I think I need to thank you for keeping the other bots off my tailpipes." Optimus replied as he headed for the berth room.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ratchet replied before kissed the Prime.

Optimus barely managed to get them to the berth before things had gotten too far.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought!<p>

The section about dizygotic twins and monozygotic twins is fact. I found it on the internet.

And the part about plausible deniablity is something I took from the movie _Independence Day_.


	11. Chapter 11

Loving all the support guys!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 11<p>

Ratchet shook his helm as he repaired the injuries that Sideswipe had sustained to his back struts. "Explain to me what made you think that it would be a good idea to sneak into Prowl and Jazz's quarters, set up several stereo speakers, and then go back to your quarters where the microphones to said speakers were before getting Bluestreak into the berth."

"Just thought Prowl and Jazz would like to know how well we take care of Bluestreak." Sideswipe replied.

Ratchet shook his helm. He didn't know if he should be more disgusted at Sideswipe's actions or proud of Prowl's reaction. Prowl had given the red front liners dents that Ratchet was proud of.

"Got to say that Prowl is definitely your son. He has your aim, your glare, your language, and your anger." Sideswipe remarked.

"Remember that next time you want to do something like that. Prowl is much harder to completely piss off, but Primus help you when you do." Ratchet retorted. He finished with the injuries. "All right. Get your aft out of here. I have more important things to do then deal with your ruined paintjob. Get Sunstreaker to help you with that."

"Sure thing. Thanks, Doc!" Sideswipe bounded up from the berth and headed of the infirmary.

Ratchet shook his helm. "I thought that the prospect of becoming a creator would make Sideswipe act more mature. It would appear that I was wrong."

First Aid smiled at his mentor. "Well, at least Sunstreaker isn't acting as much like a youngling as Sideswipe is. He seemed to be handling this well." First Aid replied.

Sunstreaker had acted more mature since learning that Bluestreak was sparked. In fact, Sunstreaker hadn't been in the infirmary for any reason other than to get more paint to touch up his scratched paintjob and to come with Bluestreak when he had his appointments.

Ratchet set out to clean and sterilize the instruments that he had been using while repairing Sideswipe.

"You know, it's already the afternoon, and Wheeljack hasn't had an explosion yet." Jolt commented.

First Aid groaned. "Jolt! You just jinxed it! We might have gone an entire cycle without him having an explosion!"

As if a testament to what First Aid had just said, there was a loud explosion.

Ratchet winced and felt the processor ache that he already had getting worse. :'Jack, how bad?:

:Uh, well, I don't think it's too bad. I'm still in one piece. But my back really hurts and so does my helm.: Wheeljack answered.

:Someone will be there soon.: Ratchet then closed off the bond before he turned back. "Jolt, as you jinxed it, go."

"Yes sir." Jolt grabbed the medical kit and headed out of the infirmary to go and check on Wheeljack.

Optimus passed Jolt on his way out of the infirmary. "Sending Jolt to deal with Wheeljack?"

"Yes. He jinxed it by commenting on there being no explosions." Ratchet set the cleaned instruments aside. "Besides, I've found that the best practice for a medic-in-training is dealing with Wheeljack and his mishaps."

"Mishaps? I call them catastrophes." First Aid retorted.

"Call them what you will." Ratchet replied. He turned toward his lover. "Was there something that you needed, Optimus?"

"Yes. I recall that you told me First Aid intended to give you a check-up this afternoon as long as there were no other injuries to care for." Optimus replied. He wasn't sure if Wheeljack would qualify as injured at the moment or not.

"Yes. He is. If Jolt needs assistance with Wheeljack's injuries, then we can call Sire to go and help him." Ratchet grinned sadistically. "I suppose he'd jump at the chance to do that."

As a means of getting back at his sire, Ratchet had assigned Swiftwind to deal with the Wreckers and their monthly physical. After all, everybot hated having to deal with the Wreckers because of how they were, and it was only right that Swiftwind go do that. He did get some laughter out of his son's predicament, so Ratchet figured that would be the perfect payback.

"Ratchet, the Wreckers could drive me to murder if I had to deal with them on a daily basis. I honestly don't know how Sergeant Epps puts up with them." Optimus stated.

"Sergeant Epps has, apparently, developed an immunity to them, or he has reached their level of insanity as well." Ratchet replied as he walked over to one of the medical berths and sat down on it while First Aid got everything ready for the check-up.

"I'd go with the former." First Aid stated.

Optimus walked over to stand by Ratchet. "I admire Sergeant Epps for being able to work with the Wreckers on a daily basis. Topspin and the others are not easy to work with. However, he has chosen to deal with it, and I admire him for managing that much."

"Probably a good thing." Ratchet agreed.

First Aid hooked several machines up to Ratchet and looked over the readings that he was getting. He noticed that all levels were where they should be, which was a good thing. He then turned to face his mentor. "All right, Ratchet. Open your chest plates."

Ratchet did as he was asked.

First Aid saw that Ratchet's spark was not as deep of a blue as it had been before although it was still a deeper blue than it had been before Ratchet was sparked and would remain that way until after the sparklings were delivered. First Aid then noticed there was one, no two, no, three gold sparks!

"Well, First Aid?" Ratchet asked.

First Aid took a moment before he attempted to speak. "Well, the sparks have emerged from your own, Ratchet."

"Ah, twins then." Ratchet had suspected as much.

"Um, no, sir." First Aid looked up at his mentor and his leader before adding, "Triplets."

Ratchet and Optimus both froze as they took a few moments to process just what First Aid had told them. They were having three sparklings. Triplets.

**TRIPLETS!**

"Well, I'll be slagged." Ratchet muttered.

"From the looks of it, all three are strong sparks." First Aid noticed the healthy glow that was beings given off by the three sparks that surrounded Ratchet's own. "Considering that it's triplets, it might be a good idea to double the amount of medical grade energon for this stage, Ratchet. And probably double it for the second stage as well."

"Agreed. I'll probably need to look at a lighter work load come the second stage, too. Probably would be better if I just dealt with the sparked mechs." Ratchet mused.

First Aid nodded in agreement.

Optimus hadn't said a word. He was far too stunned at the revelation that he and Ratchet were having triplets. Triplets! He had been prepared for twins, what with Ratchet's predisposition to have twins and all. But triplets! He was already nervous about having twins, and now its triplets! Primus had some crazy sense of humor to give him triplets the first time around.

Ratchet looked over at his lover and noticed that Optimus was in a state of utter shock. He knew Optimus wasn't going to be of any use to anyone any time soon. "Aid, I think I'll take the rest of the cycle off."

Seeing the state his leader was in, First Aid understood why. "Yes, sir."

Ratchet closed his chest plates and grabbed a cube of medical grade that he quickly subspaced before he led Optimus out of the infirmary. :_Prowl?_:

:_Yes, Carrier. What is it?_: Prowl asked.

:_You may want to call Nemesis in to help you for the remainder of the cycle. I believe that Optimus is going to be quite useless for the rest of the cycle._: Ratchet told him.

:_Why?_: Prowl asked.

:_He received some news that has left him in a state of shock._: Ratchet answered.

:_Is the sparkling all right, Carrier?_: Prowl's voice held a tinge of worry in it.

:_The sparkling is fine, Prowl._: Ratchet chose to wait until Optimus had recovered from his shock to tell anyone they were having triplets. :_He should be fine by tomorrow._:

:_All right. Let me know if you need anything._: Prowl stated.

:_I will, Prowl._: Ratchet entered the code to Optimus's quarters before forcing the larger mech in. He then locked the door before leading Optimus to a chair to sit in. Ratchet then took out the cube of medical grade energon and started to sip at it, waiting for Optimus to react.

"Triplets! You never said anything about there being the possibility of triplets, Ratchet!" Optimus exclaimed.

"Triplets are very rare, Orion. Not as rare as split spark twins, but still rare. The odds weren't very high." Ratchet considered that. "Then again, given how late into the mating cycle I was, my predisposition to have more than one at a time, and the length of time we spent interfacing prior to my coming out of the influence of the mating cycle, I suppose the odds were much higher."

Optimus stood up and started to pace. "I don't know the first thing about raising one sparkling, let alone three! I mean, I'm already scared enough at raising one of them, much less three! I don't know the first thing to do with them! I'm completely inexperienced at this! The closest I have is when I helped raise Bumblebee, but he was already a youngling when we found him!"

Ratchet merely sat back and let Optimus panic. He had done the same thing when he found out he was carrying Prowl and Smokescreen. Granted, there were other circumstances that made his panicking much worse.

"Not to mention the carrying and delivery of three!" Optimus added.

Ratchet sighed. "Orion, perhaps this would be a good time to remind you that I am the one carrying and delivering them, not you."

Optimus stopped and turned to face Ratchet, appearing sheepish. "Sorry."

Ratchet shrugged. "I'll admit delivering twins wasn't easy. This won't be either." He sighed before setting the half-drank cube of medical grade aside. "But it can't be helped, and I will have to do that."

Optimus stepped over to Ratchet and wrapped his arms around him. "I suppose my panicking didn't help."

"You're entitled. I did when I first found out I was carrying Prowl and Smokescreen." Ratchet looked up at Optimus. "But if I can raise Prowl and Smokescreen alone while doing my residency, I think we can raise these three now."

"You're right." Optimus had to agree with the medic there.

"Besides, there are plenty of creators already here on Earth that you can go to for advice. And some things just come on instinct, Orion. I know they did for me. It'll all work out. You'll see." Ratchet assured him.

"I hope you're right." Optimus murmured.

Ratchet smiled. "Orion, I have had to deal with Bluestreak, Hot Shot, and Smokescreen all having panic attacks about becoming first time creators. No reason you shouldn't."

"Thanks. I'm glad you're so understanding." Optimus told him.

"Well, just prepare yourselves to need your audio receptors replaced when my carrier finds out we're having triplets." Ratchet considered that a moment. "We'll all need them replaced once my carrier and my sister and Chromia, slag when all the femmes find out its triplets."

Optimus winced at the thought. He decided that he might need to tune his audio receptors down when they told them. And he might offer a warning to his carrier, sire and Swiftwind as well.

* * *

><p>"TRIPLETS!" Starlight, Elita, Chromia, and Arcee all squealed the moment that Ratchet and Optimus informed the base that they were having triplets.<p>

Ratchet was glad that he had tuned down his audio receptors in preparation for telling them. He knew that his carrier and sister would react like that, and he had been fairly certain that the rest of the femmes on the base would react like that as well. It must be something in the coding of femmes to react in such a way to such news. And it appeared to transcend species as human females seemed to react to such news in much the same way.

Optimus had also tuned down and his audio receptors and was glad that he had had the forethought to warn his carrier, his sire and Swiftwind to tune down their audio receptors. Optimus wasn't sure that his own audio receptors would have survived the squeals of delights that had escaped the femmes.

Swiftwind knew, upon hearing the news, that it would have been bad from Starlight and Elita, which would only be compounded by the other femmes, which meant that the Praxian was more than grateful that Optimus had given him that warning.

Nemesis and Alpha Trion were just as grateful. While they were both happy, and shocked, to learn that they were going to be having three grand-creations, neither would have reacted like that and were glad that their audio receptors weren't busted by the squealing.

The remainder of the mechs and the humans on the base weren't as lucky as the mechs grabbed their audio receptors and cringed while the humans covered their hears at the shrill squeal. All except for the women who seemed to have joined the femmes in their squealing.

"Oh, that's wonderful, Ratchet!" Starlight bounded over and hugged her son tightly. "Three sparklings! This is so amazing!"

"Thinking of having a big family, Optimus?" Elita asked with a smirk.

Optimus glared at her. "Don't even start, Elita."

Elita snickered before turning to her brother. "That's great news, Ratchet, and you know that you can count on me as a babysitter."

"Oh, yes. Because you did such a great job with Prowl and Smokescreen." Ratchet retorted sarcastically.

"They were fine." Elita protested.

"You lost them at the park when they were only six stellar cycles old!" Ratchet snapped back at her. He had been in a panic when he had learned that they were missing and nearly killed his sister when they had found them. It was only Wheeljack and Swiftwind holding him back that stopped that murder from taking place.

"You lost them?" Alpha Trion asked curiously.

Elita looked embarrassed. "Yeah, but they were fine. Some friends ours found them and brought them back to us."

"That's beside the point!" Ratchet growled.

Prowl looked at his aunt in shock. "You lost us?"

"Uh, yeah. But it was just the one time! And you weren't even missing fifteen kliks! And you were both completely fine! Powerglide and Moonracer had found you. You two were happily playing with Trailbreaker and Hound when we got there." Elita told him.

"You lost us?" Smokescreen couldn't help repeating. He had never known that his aunt had lost them.

Elita was exasperated. "For Primus' sake! That was eons ago! Why are you two getting so bent out of shape over it now? You're both adults with creations of your own to worry about."

"Because you lost us!" Prowl and Smokescreen shouted at the same time.

Elita glanced at her carrier for help.

"Don't look at me, Elita. You were the one who lost them. And I think Prowl and Smokescreen have the right to be upset about this." Starlight stated.

Optimus made a mental note to not let Elita watch the triplets for a while. Then again, they were on a big, military base. It would be a lot harder for her to completely lose them. Someone, human or Autobot, should be able to find them on this big of a base.

Ironhide snickered. "And I thought that you were always on top of things, Elita."

"Oh, can it, Ironhide! I was a lot younger then! I have grown a lot more responsible since then." Elita told them, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Just had to beat the rest of us, didn't ya, doc?" Jazz asked.

Ratchet glanced over at the saboteur. "What are you talking about, Jazz?"

Jazz grinned. "Well, Smokey, Blue, and I are all having twins. Ya just had to outdo us by having triplets this go-round."

"Oh, please. Jazz. I do not need to outdo you. I'm hardly the one that decided to have triplets." Ratchet retorted.

"Primus' sense of humor?" Hot Shot suggested.

"Perhaps." Ratchet replied.

Wheeljack sighed. "Well, I guess that means that there's going to be a lot of other stuff for sparklings that I'm going to have to make. I'll have to make enough for nine sparklings."

Epps whistled. "That's a lot of 'em."

"Indeed. It will be fine, though. Because of the war, sparklings have not been seen for quite some time. It will be a welcome change to have sparklings running underfoot again." Nemesis remarked.

"Just how big will they be?" Lennox asked.

"They will still be larger than all of you, Colonel, though they are rather small in comparison to an adult, just a baby is small compared to an adult human." Ratchet answered.

"Okay. Good to know." Lennox stated.

The group slowly started to spread as the initial excitement from learning that Ratchet was carrying triplets died down.

Ratchet sat down along with Smokescreen, Bluestreak, and Starlight.

"So, how are you doing, Ratchet?" Starlight asked.

"I'm fine, Carrier. I'm nowhere near as far along as Smokey or Blue, so I'm fine." Ratchet assured her.

"Well, Prime did say that he was upset at how much our species has dwindled. We're just helping to repopulate." Smokescreen stated.

"I don't think this is how he imagined it happening." Ratchet told him.

Smokescreen shrugged. "He did say that, though."

"Yes, he did." Ratchet agreed. He knew that Optimus was upset at how the war had decimated their race, but Ratchet also knew that Optimus hadn't wanted them to try to build up their race by having sparklings in the middle of a war.

Granted, Ratchet wasn't very at fault nor were Bluestreak or Smokescreen since they were under the influence of the mating cycle. They hadn't really been in control of their actions at the time. So it's not like they chose the time that they tried to become sparked.

Of course, mating protocols normally don't activate when they determine that the environment surrounding them would not be suitable for a sparkling to be born into. That would certainly explain why their protocols activated now. The environment seemed much safer on Earth as the battles were less and less. The protocols had determined that it was safe enough for them to become sparked.

Ratchet supposed that they were the safest they had been for some time. Earth probably was going to be their permanent home now, which meant that this would be the world that they would raise the sparklings in. It was a beautiful world for the sparklings to be born into.

* * *

><p>"So, are you going to run again?"<p>

Optimus looked up from the datapad he had been looking over at the time to look at his lover, who was lying on the couch as he read through a datapad himself. "Excuse me?"

Ratchet glanced over at him. "The next time I end up in the middle of a mating cycle. Are you going to run again?"

"This will happen again?" Optimus was stunned to hear that.

Ratchet laughed. "Well, it won't happen for at least five deca cycles, but yes, I will end up in the middle of another mating cycle unless I end up sparked."

"Oh." Optimus supposed that made sense. They did live long lives, so it made sense that the mating cycle would happen more than once. "Well, I don't think that I would have a reason to run again, so no, I wouldn't." Optimus smiled. "I'd probably just do like Hot Shot."

"Give in at the start? A good idea." Ratchet shook his helm. "I certainly don't want to go through all that running again."

Optimus laughed. "I wouldn't want to go through all the running again, either." He thought about it for a moment before deciding to ask Ratchet something that had been on his processors for the last few cycles. "Ratchet, there's something I want to ask you, and I want you to consider it because I'm serious."

Ratchet glanced over at his lover. "And what's that?"

Optimus stood up and walked over to kneel beside the couch. "Ratchet, I want you to move in here with me."

Ratchet looked more than a little shocked. He hadn't expected his lover to ask him that. They had only been together a little over a groon, not including the time they spent in Optimus's berth room while Ratchet was still under the influence of the mating cycle. "Now?"

Optimus nodded. "Before you say anything, I have thought about this. I know that neither of us are used to having a roommate, but my quarters is more than big enough for the both of us. I also know that it's rather important for me to be close by while you're carrying since that's how they'll recognize me as their sire." Optimus did remember from his class on sparklings that sparklings would pick up on their sire's spark if the sire stayed close to the carrier long enough during the mating cycle.

"That is true. Sparklings can sense the sire. Normally, it's much easier since the creators are bonded. They can feel the sire though the carrier's bond to the sire. In this case, the more you're with me, the easier it'll be for them to pick up your spark signature." Ratchet agreed.

"And I know that that is very important during the early stages of gestation." Optimus told him.

Ratchet had to admit that that was a good point. The sparklings did need Optimus be close. Of course, Ratchet and Optimus could go ahead and bond to aid with the sparklings recognizing Optimus as their sire, but it wasn't right to bond solely for that reason.

"There's also the fact that once you reach the latter part of gestation you're going to need my help more than you are now." Optimus stated.

"Hmm. That is true. It was more than a bit difficult getting up when I was carrying Prowl and Smokescreen. It'll be even more difficult to get up carrying three." Ratchet agreed.

Optimus then smirked at the medic. "Then there's the fact that you have stayed in here every night for the last few breem, so you're virtually living here already."

Ratchet had to laugh. "In other words, just make it official."

"Pretty much." Optimus reached over and took Ratchet's hand in his. "And I really do want you to move in with me. I know that we haven't been together long on any level, but I was hoping that you would agree."

Ratchet smiled. "I don't see any harm in it, Orion. Yes, I'll move in with you."

"Great." Optimus leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Ratchet's lips. "Now I'll be able to come out of recharge with you in my arms every morning."

"You've been doing that the last few breem, as you so helpfully pointed out." Ratchet told him.

"Yes, but I know for certain I will now." Optimus replied.

"Except for when you're called to Washington for some kind of meeting or out on a mission." Ratchet pointed out.

"True, but I will be able to other than that." Optimus stated.

Ratchet nodded in agreement. "We can move my things tomorrow. It's late, and I'm not going to move anything tonight."

"Of course not. We can get a few of the other Autobots to help with that." Optimus told him.

Ratchet nodded. "Why not get Sideswipe and Sunstreaker to help? At least that would keep Sideswipe out of trouble for a bit."

Optimus smiled. "I thought that you would have suggested Wheeljack."

"Maybe him, too. At least when I reached the second stage, he won't be my problem for a while." Ratchet answered.

Optimus frowned. "Why not?"

"Because First Aid and I agreed that the sparked mechs would be my only concern once I reached the second stage. Other than that, he's going to be acting CMO. I could carry out my duties, but carrying triplets will put more of a strain on me than normal. We figured that it would be best if I simply handled the sparked mechs until after I have our sparklings." Ratchet answered.

Optimus looked more than a bit shocked. "When did you two decide that?"

Ratchet smiled. "Right after First Aid told us we were having triplets. You were in such a state of shock that you must not have heard us."

Optimus appeared embarrassed at that point. He hadn't meant to let something like that escape his audios, but he had just been really shocked to find out they were going to have triplets the first time around.

"Don't worry about it, Optimus. And you don't need to worry about me, either. Trust me. My carrier, my sister, and First Aid are going to do enough worrying for the both of us." Ratchet told him.

"That may be, Ratchet," Optimus kissed Ratchet's cheek. "But I'm still going to worry about you as well."

"I figured as much." Ratchet checked his chronometer and saw that it was late. "Come on. We should get some recharge. I know you have a series of meetings in the morning."

"Yes. I do." Optimus sighed. "I really hate meetings. Especially since our current liaison is not easy to deal with at the moment."

"At least Colonel Lennox and General Morshower are easier for you to deal with and take up for you when necessary." Ratchet stated.

"There is that." Optimus agreed.

The two then headed into their berth room and climbed into the berth.

Although they didn't go into recharge for a while.

* * *

><p>While Optimus was in his meetings with Prowl, Jazz, and the human officials that were present as well via video link, Ratchet enlisted Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, and Ironhide to help him move all of his things into Optimus's quarters.<p>

"Think Prime'll be all right with you just moving in, doc?" Sideswipe asked as he set a box of some of Ratchet's things in the floor.

"He's the one who asked me to move in, Sideswipe, so I would say yes." Ratchet retorted. He had already started arranging some of the things in the room while trying not to move too much of Optimus's stuff in the process.

"Got ta say that you two move fast. 'Mia and I were together almost a deca-cycle before we moved in together. You two have barely been together for a groon." Ironhide stated, smirking at his old friend.

Ratchet cast a glare at the black mech. "Well, you and Chromia had only just met each other, too. Optimus and I have known each other for quite a few vorn. Over fifteen vorn, to be more precise. And there's also the added fact that I am sparked by him."

Ironhide shrugged. "Just sayin'." He turned and left the room before Ratchet had the chance to find something to throw at him for his remarks.

"Why are we stuck doing this?" Sunstreaker griped.

"Because it was a lot to do by myself, and I think Optimus would have had a conniption if I had tried to do it all alone." Ratchet replied.

"He's going to be a mother hen, isn't he?" Wheeljack asked.

"I'm afraid so." Ratchet sighed. "That'll make at least three of them because there is no way to keep Carrier from worrying about me, and I know Elita will as well." Ratchet started going through one of the boxes. "I don't know how Optimus's creators will react. My luck they'll both turn into mother hens."

"I doubt Nemesis would, although Alpha Trion might be another story." Ratchet stated.

"Never can have too many around to worry about ya, Ratch." Wheeljack stated.

"I would have to argue with that statement." Ratchet retorted. He found a few old datapads filled with picture files that he most definitely did **NOT **need Sideswipe getting his hands on. He quickly placed them on one of the shelves until he could find another place for them later.

Once Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Ironhide had gotten all of the stiff moved in, the three headed off to do other things on their times off. They'd just leave organizing it all to Ratchet.

"So, do ya need my help, or do you want me to go?" Wheeljack asked.

"It's up to you, 'Jack." Ratchet answered.

Wheeljack decided to stay and help. He found another old datapad and couldn't believe the pictures he found. "I can't believe that you still have this, Ratch."

Ratchet glanced over and saw that Wheeljack was looking through his collection of photos from tier academy. "Oh, yeah. The old photos of our days at the medical-science academy. The place where we first learned that you were a menace to science."

"I am not!" Wheeljack glared at his brother.

"'Jack, they threatened to expel you because of the explosions that you tended to cause. You're lucky that Sire was able to convince them that you weren't a menace to society." Ratchet shook his helm. "I still don't know how it is that you managed to survive all these years."

"Simple. I had the best slagging medic saving my life all the time!" Wheeljack grinned at Ratchet as his headfins lit up blue.

Ratchet groaned. "I have to admit that you and your catastrophes, as First Aid calls them, were the best preparation I could have had for dealing with field injuries and combat-related injuries once the war started."

"See! There is an up-side to my mishaps!" Wheeljack grinned in triumph.

"I would have preferred that experience not come from making sure that my brother stayed alive." Ratchet retorted.

Wheeljack just shrugged.

Ratchet shook his helm.

Wheeljack continued to skim through the pictures. "Uh, I see that there are no photos of Driftstream in here."

Ratchet gaze darkened. "Of course there's not. After what he did, I hardly need any reminders of him." He shook his helm before getting up and moving to do something else. "Driftstream is a part of my past, and that is where he will stay. I have no need to remember much about him."

"Guess that is true." Wheeljack agreed. He set the datapad aside before going to work. "Though you might want to tell Optimus about him just because there needs to be a high level of trust between you."

"I will tell him when I'm ready." Ratchet replied. He hated to admit that what Driftstream had done had caused some emotional damage and made the medic unwilling to readily get involved in another relationship. Although he never had much time for that between raising Prowl and Smokescreen and practicing as a medic. But there had been emotional scars left, and Ratchet needed a bit of time before he would tell Optimus.

But he would.

* * *

><p>Optimus had been glad when the workday had ended for him. He had spent all morning in meetings and then he spent all afternoon trying to do paperwork that accumulated on his desk while in the meetings that morning. He really hated paperwork.<p>

The worst part, for Optimus at least, was the fact that he had not seen that much of Ratchet that day. He had seen him that morning, although the medic had still been in recharge when Optimus rose from their berth, and Ratchet had brought the Prime his afternoon energon since Optimus had forgotten to get that before heading to his office.

Now, at least the Prime would be able to see Ratchet for a bit.

When Optimus entered his quarters, he found that Ratchet was sitting on the couch with a datapad in his hand. The next thing the Prime noticed was that there were a lot more objects in his quarters, which meant that a lot of it was Ratchet. The Prime hadn't been certain if there would be room for everything, but Ratchet had arranged everything nicely. And without moving the Prime's own things that much.

Optimus walked over and sat down on the couch by Ratchet. He leaned over and kissed Ratchet on the cheek. "You know that you could have moved my stuff around some if you needed to. I wouldn't care."

"I know, but I managed." Ratchet answered.

Optimus glanced at the datapad Ratchet help and was surprised to find it compromised of photos. He instantly recognized some areas as that of Cybertron, which meant that they were old photos since it was obviously before the war. He then recognized one of the younglings in a photo. "Is that Prowl?"

Ratchet laughed lightly. "Yes. I came across these old files when I was arranging everything. I thought I'd sit down and take a look at them. I haven't in a while."

"Prowl was a cute youngling." Optimus remarked.

"Don't ever let Prowl hear you say that. He wouldn't be happy about it in the least." Ratchet shook his helm. "That's exactly why I made sure that Sideswipe didn't see this. He would have taken it and teased Prowl to no end."

"Agreed." Optimus looked over the photos as Ratchet scrolled through them. "You know, we're going to have to do this with ours."

"Hmm. Indeed. It's always nice to be able to look at these eons later." Ratchet shook his helm. "Looking at these really make me feel old."

Optimus smiled. "Maybe, but we're pretty much an ageless race, Ratchet. We could both live for another thousand vorn and still not be that old. At least not in the way we feel."

"Yes. I know." Ratchet agreed.

"Just think of all the sparklings we could have in that time." Optimus stated.

Ratchet glanced at him. "I'm assuming you're going to want more than three we're already going to have."

"Of course." Optimus answered.

Ratchet smiled. "Well, I have to admit that a big a family has always appealed to me." He chuckled. "What do you think the humans would say if they knew that it was normal for an average Cybertronian couple to have anywhere from a hundred to two hundred offspring in their entire time of function?"

Optimus laughed. "Probably have heart attacks. It's still hard for them to believe that we live so long. They would think in a short time span like they have children. They don't realize that we'd have them over the course of however many vorn we live."

"True." Ratchet smirked. "Still, it would be funny just to see their expressions after being told that."

"You can be cruel, Ratchet." Optimus told him.

"So I've been told." Ratchet replied.

Optimus pulled Ratchet closer to him. He had to admit having that many creations with Ratchet was quite agreeable with him. And something that the Prime hoped that they would end up doing.

* * *

><p>Drop a review and tell me what you think!<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks for all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 12<p>

Smokescreen released a loud groan. "Primus! I am ready for these two to come already!"

Jazz glanced over at Smokescreen. "You do realize that you're in the middle of the last stage, Smokey. You don't have much longer before they'll be coming."

"I know, but I can't even get up on my own anymore. And I stay tired all the time. Just having all this extra weight off of me will be a blessing." Smokescreen stated.

Sarah laughed. "Human women feel the exact same way, Smokescreen. By the time we get into the last trimester, we're ready for the baby to come." She looked over at where her daughter was playing with Bluestreak, who didn't seem phased in the least that he was in his last few groon of carrying. "I know I was ready to have Annabelle by the time I got to that point."

Smokescreen sighed. "Well, I'm more than ready to have them."

Sarah looked up at Jazz. "What about you, Jazz?"

"Well, this time is a bit different for me. I was only sparked with Blue the last time. So carrying twins has been a different experience for meh. It's been a bit harder, too, as they both have Prowl's bigger frame type." Jazz added.

"That means delivery will be even harder, right?" Sarah asked.

"So doc tells meh. I'm prepared for it, though. Blue had Prowl's larger frame type, and I managed with him. Granted, I'll be throwing curses at Prowler, but he expects that." Jazz stated.

"Yes, I do." Prowl glanced up from the datapad. "Every other word you spoke to me was a curse to my name when you were in labor with Bluestreak."

"Really?" Bluestreak looked up from Annabelle to look at his sire.

"Yes, Bluestreak." Prowl answered.

"So feel free to curse at the twins, Blue. You'll be joining the rest of the crowd." Jazz said cheerfully.

Prowl didn't look so thrilled at that statement.

"Blue, how can you not be ready to have them already?" Smokescreen asked.

"Oh, I don't mind carrying, Smokey. Yeah, I'll be glad to have all this extra weight off, but Sides and Sunny have been a great help to me." Bluestreak grinned. "Besides, I've liked not having to work for these last few groon."

"And that would be because Carrier threatened me within an inch of my life if I even considered placing any of you on the duty roster during your last stage." Prowl grimaced. "I'm rather certain that Carrier would have reformatted me into something else if I did that."

Jazz's face fell. "So, that means I'm going to be off the duty roster for the next six groon?"

"The moment Carrier tells me you're in the third stage; you're off the duty roster." Prowl replied.

"What about Ratchet?" Sarah asked.

"Ratchet is in the second stage at the moment. Just the middle of it. Besides, he's only been dealing with the sparked mechs on base to lighten his load. Aid didn't want him overdoing it since he's carrying twins." Bluestreak replied.

**BOOOOOOM!**

"WHEELJACK!"

"Ah. And that's why 'Jack's become the bane of First Aid's existence. He's tired of all the explosions that Wheeljack has." Jazz stated.

* * *

><p>First Aid stormed out of the infirmary with the medical kit in hand, royally pissed off that he had to deal with Wheeljack for the fifteenth time that day. How that mech managed to do that so many times in one cycle was beyond the young medic.<p>

Ratchet watched First Aid leave the infirmary with a bit of amusement. He knew that he himself could get like that when Wheeljack had so many explosions in one cycle. He was also glad that he didn't have to deal with his suicidal brother at the moment.

Optimus entered the infirmary after having just passed First Aid. "Can I assume that First Aid is going to end up becoming the way you are, Ratchet, if he has to deal with Wheeljack much longer?"

Swiftwind braced for the explosions of anger that would only be made worse by that fact that Ratchet was sparked. He would need to talk to Optimus about watching what he says.

Ratchet smiled. "Possibly. I did get worse when I started dealing with Wheeljack and his idiocy. I give it a few more breem, and First Aid's going to whacking Wheeljack with a wrench." He considered that a moment. "I may need to tell First Aid to avoid the headfins. Not a good place to hit him."

Optimus raised an optic ridge at that.

"What? Why do you think I avoid them? I avoid Jazz's sensory horns and Prowl's doorwings for that same reason. I'm not going to put them in absolute agony. Hitting those three on those areas would do just that. I hit them where it won't put them in agony." Ratchet replied.

"Oh. A good idea then." Optimus shook his helm. "Can I assume that you're not having your check-up right now then?"

"Oh, no. I'm certain that my sire can handle it." Ratchet turned to find Swiftwind staring at them with an expression that was somewhere between dumbfounded and horrified. "What?"

"Who in the Pit are you, and what have you done with my son!" Swiftwind stared at Ratchet in absolute shock. This was so not his son!

"What is wrong with you, sire?" Ratchet was surprised at this reaction as was Optimus.

"What's wrong! Even when you weren't sparked, if somebot made the statement that First Aid was becoming like you, you would have gotten pissed at them! And you never react this well to anything!" Swiftwind was tempted to ask Smokescreen to do a full psychological evaluation on himself. Or Ratchet one.

Ratchet sighed. "Sire, I know that Optimus is only teasing. It's no big deal. And I have no shame in admitting what my personality is like. I know I'm temperamental and that I tend to throw things at those I get pissed at. It's not a big deal. Not to me."

Optimus smiled. "Besides, Ratchet's been more laid back about things since he became sparked. He doesn't react the way he normally does."

"You don't?" Swiftwind asked.

"You haven't noticed that the explosions of anger seem to come from Prowl in regard to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, First Aid in regard to Wheeljack, or Smokescreen and Bluestreak in regard to their mates?" Optimus asked.

Swiftwind realized that his son hadn't been reacting in that way. "Primus! This is a major turn from how you acted when you were sparked with Prowl and Smokescreen. You kept poor Wheeljack terrified every astro-second of every cycle."

"And if you recall, I did apologize to Wheeljack for that." Ratchet replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, you did." Swiftwind agreed. He remembered that he had been rather terrified himself when Ratchet was sparked. Made him wonder why Ratchet was so calm this time around.

"In any case, will you please perform my check-up this time around, Sire?" Ratchet asked.

"Oh. Of course." Swiftwind figured he might as well stay on Ratchet's good side for the time being.

Ratchet walked over and sat down on one of the medical berths. He knew that the protoforms of the sparklings were growing as he could the feel the weight being added to his frame. He had also found that he was already struggling to sit up when he came out of recharge in the morning. It was a good thing that he had Optimus there to help him get up.

Optimus moved over to stand by Ratchet. He had been there for the medic through every check-up since First Aid confirmed that Ratchet was sparked. He didn't want to miss anything and had decided to have Ratchet let him know whenever the medic was going to be checked out by any of the medics.

Swiftwind wasn't used to caring for sparked bots. He hadn't dealt with them when he had been a medic back on Cybertron before the war. In fact, he had dealt more with injuries and surgeries, not caring for sparked bots and delivering sparklings. He had certainly had to learn on Earth, though, since Ratchet was sparked. Not like the CMO, no matter how good he was, could deliver his own sparklings.

Ratchet was patient while his sire performed his check-up, much to the old medic's surprise. Swiftwind would have to admit that Ratchet was really acting different since he had been sparked. The old medic was also glad to see that everything was going well for Ratchet. All three of the sparklings were developing as they should, and all of Ratchet's energy levels were at a stable level.

The stable energy levels surprised Swiftwind as this was the stage that a carrier normally had a great build-up of energy that required interfacing to get rid of the excess energy. Looks like Optimus and Ratchet were doing plenty of interfacing if Ratchet's energy levels were stable.

"All right, Ratchet. Open your chest plates." Swiftwind told Ratchet.

Ratchet did as he was asked and sent the command for his chest plates to open.

Swiftwind finished up his exam and was pleased to see that everything was going well. "Everything looks good. The sparklings are progressing as they should in their development, and your energy levels appear to be stable."

"Hmm. That is good then." Ratchet agreed as he closed his chest plates.

Optimus was glad to hear that. He did worry about Ratchet and the sparklings as he knew that carrying one sparkling could be taxing on a carrier, which meant that carrying three would be even harder. He had noticed that it didn't seem to faze Ratchet that much, though. In fact, the medic hadn't acted much different than he normally did. Minus the more laidback and calmer personality Ratchet seemed to have acquired.

"And I can tell you what the sparklings are if you would like to know." Swiftwind stated.

"Yes, we would like to know, Sire." Ratchet replied.

"Well, you're having two mechs and a femme." Swiftwind told them.

**THAT **was shocking. Femmes were a lot rarer than mechs were, and it was even more rare that two mechs had a femme. For them to be having a femme was a rare occurrence.

Of course, the two mechs were more than happy to be having a femme.

"Are you certain, Sire?" Ratchet asked, just wanting to make sure that they really were having two mechs and a femme.

"Ratchet, I am old, and I many not have cared for as many sparked bots as you have, but I believe that I can tell the difference between a mech and a femme. You are most definitely having two mechs and a femme." Swiftwind told his son.

Optimus smiled. "I believe that this is good news."

"Yes. And I am dreading having to tell my carrier that one." Ratchet murmured, remembering what it was like to tell her he was sparked with triplets.

Optimus and Swiftwind thought about that before they grimaced at the shout that Starlight would let out at knowing Ratchet and Optimus were having a femme.

"Better turn down our audio receptors." Swiftwind muttered. He then went to handle a few other things in the infirmary to give Ratchet and Optimus a few moments alone to talk about this.

"I can't believe that we're actually having a femme." Optimus mused.

"It is shocking, though not a bad thing." Ratchet chuckled. "We'll have one spoiled femme since she'll be the only femmeling for a while."

Optimus knew that was true since Smokescreen, Bluestreak, and Jazz were all having mechs. They would be the only ones having a femme. "I think that we can deal with that, Ratchet." The Prime then wrapped his arms around Ratchet and pulled the medic into a hug. "And I can't wait to finally see them."

"You'll meet them soon enough." Ratchet told him.

"I know. I still can't wait." Optimus leaned down and gently kissed Ratchet.

Ratchet relaxed into the kiss, having grown used to Optimus suddenly kissing him for no apparent reason at all. Of course, this time it was due to his excitement of them having two mechs and a femme.

"That crazy scientist is going to get himself killed one of these days." First Aid muttered, ignorant to the fact that his mentor and his Prime were currently locked in a kiss as he entered the medbay.

Optimus and Ratchet broke the kiss before both turned to look at First Aid.

"He's one step away from lobbing a wrench at Wheeljack." Optimus murmured.

"That much is true." Ratchet knew just how irritating Wheeljack could be with his numerous explosions as Ratchet had dealt with it for far too long.

"In any case, I had better get back to work, or I'll have Prowl breathing down my neck about it." Optimus stated as he let go of Ratchet.

Ratchet smiled. "I could always talk to Prowl about lightening up on the paperwork. I believe that I could convince him to stop."

"I don't think that that will be necessary, Ratchet." Optimus feared knowing just how Ratchet would convince Prowl to lighten up on the paperwork. "I just need to get back to the office. I'll see you tonight."

"All right, Optimus." Ratchet gave Optimus another kiss before the Prime left the infirmary to get back to work.

First Aid stared after the Prime, having just realized that the Prime had even been in the infirmary.

Ratchet turned to his protégé. "What are you staring at?"

"Oh! Uh, nothing, sir." First Aid went to put the medical kit back up, praying to Primus that he wouldn't be yelled at.

"How's Wheeljack?" Ratchet asked.

"In one piece, by some miracle. No major damage. Except for the crazed processors that he had." First muttered.

Ratchet laughed. "First Aid, now you know exactly why I ended up with the reputation of being a wrench-wielding medic who had a tendency to shout his anger and frustrations at his patients as well as give them a few well-deserved hits to the helm for their idiocy. Wheeljack was the one that pushed me to that point, and it's stuck ever sense."

First Aid sighed. "I'm close to that point now, Ratchet. I barely resisted the urge to bang Wheeljack in the helm with a wrench today."

"Just a few pointers. Never aim for an overly sensitive part of a bot's frame, such as Jazz's sensory horns, Prowl's doorwings, or Wheeljack's headfins. They'll cause far too much pain, and you don't want to do that. It could cause some major system damage. Second, don't hesitate when you start to throw something. They'll get out of your way if you do hesitate. Three, make them fear you. You won't have to use the wrench as much." Ratchet stated.

"Okay. I'll remember that." First Aid agreed.

Ratchet smiled. He felt a bit of pride at knowing his student was about to get to the point that he would be practicing his wrench throwing.

* * *

><p>That evening, Ratchet and Optimus were back in their quarters. Ratchet was sitting on the couch with a datapad in his hand, doing some pleasure reading. He had found that he had more time to do that now and had been doing as much as he could since he knew he wouldn't have the time to once their sparklings arrived.<p>

The Prime was laid out on the couch with his helm laid in Ratchet's lap. He had been worn out from long day he had had since he had had an emergency meeting with the current liaison, who was worse than Charlotte Mearing had been although not quite as bad as Theodore Galloway had been.

Ratchet was idly stroking Optimus's arm while he was reading his datapad. He did it without thinking as he read, just wanting some sort of contact.

Optimus had been pondering something for quite a while, so he decided to ask Ratchet. "Ratchet, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Orion." Ratchet set the datapad aside so that he would listen to his lover fully and not be distracted. "What is it?"

"I've heard from Wheeljack, Swiftwind, Starlight, and Elita that you acted a lot different while you were carrying Prowl and Smokescreen. Why did it sound like you stayed angry then and you've been so laid back now?" Optimus asked, glancing up to meet Ratchet's optics.

Ratchet sighed as he leaned his head back. "The circumstances surrounding my carrying and everything else going on in my life made things even more difficult."

Optimus frowned before he sat up and turned to face Ratchet. "What did you mean?"

Ratchet decided it was time to be completely honest with Optimus. "You know that I left politics to become a medic."

"Yes. I know." Optimus had known that before he was even named Prime.

"Well, while I was in medical school, I met a fellow medical student named Driftstream. We started off as classmates helping each other in their studies to good friends and we eventually became lovers." Ratchet explained.

Optimus wasn't bothered by the fact that Ratchet was speaking of a past relationship. He knew that Ratchet would have had other relationships as the Prime himself had. Cybertronians were not bothered by the fact that their partners had had previous intimate relationships.

"Driftstream and I were together up until our time doing our residency. Right before we were to start our residency, I found out that I sparked. It hadn't been something that either of us planned, but it was something that had happened. So I naturally told Driftstream that I was carrying." Ratchet explained.

Optimus knew that Ratchet had raised Prowl and Smokescreen alone, which meant he had a pretty good idea what happened. "I take it he did not take the news well."

"Not at all. He started saying things along the lines of how I could let it happen. As if he had nothing to do with it." Ratchet shook his helm. "Regardless, that day was the last time I saw him. He walked out on us without a second thought." Ratchet sighed. "I was upset, of course. I had just found out I was sparked, I was facing the prospect of raising them alone, I was about to start my residency, and I was scared out of my processors."

Optimus started to understand why Ratchet had so many emotional outbursts.

"My family, obviously, was supportive of me. You know my feelings on purging sparklings, so that was out of the question. I never even considered it. My family knew that and was there for me." Ratchet smiled. "My sire, Wheeljack, and Elita all wanted to hunt Driftstream down and give them a piece of their processors. Granted, they didn't, but they wanted to. Wheeljack convinced me to live with him while I was carrying. The bond we had made things a bit easier on me although the stress was still high. Wheeljack actually went with me when I went to tell my advisor in the medical academy about the fact that I was sparked." Ratchet grimaced. "That was a fun meeting."

Optimus raised an optic ridge before he moved a bit closer. "I take it that it didn't end so well."

"No. My advisor told me I should purge the sparklings as it would only hinder my studies." Ratchet stated.

Optimus's jaw dropped. "I'm guessing you let him have it."

"No. 'Jack did. He was royally pissed off. I was too shocked to say much at the time, but Wheeljack wasn't. In fact, Wheeljack was shouting so much security was called in, although Wheeljack never did anything to suggest he'd hurt him. Just a lot of yelling." Ratchet replied.

"What happened?" Optimus asked.

"In short, they tried to kick Wheeljack out of the science academy until our sire got involved. He explained the situation to the dean as well as what happened while in the advisor's office. Since Wheeljack didn't do anything physically threatening toward him, there was no reason to expel him, and I was given a new advisor." Ratchet said.

"What happened?" Optimus asked.

"My new advisor discussed it with me and suggested that I do my residency up until I entered the third stage and finish my residency after they were born." Ratchet answered.

Optimus was glad to hear that. He couldn't believe that a medical advisor would suggest something like that to Ratchet. "What happened to the old advisor?"

"Nothing much. They couldn't do much to him as there were no rules guiding them in dealing with such situations." Ratchet smirked. "Although when I was in charge of a hospital before the war, I ended up being his boss. I have to admit that it was satisfying to be over him."

Optimus chuckled. "Make his life miserable?"

"You could say that." Ratchet shrugged. "In any case, I guess you see why my temper was worse then."

"Yeah. Going through your residency and raising them alone would have made anybot more anxious and prone to emotional outbursts." Optimus stated.

Ratchet nodded. "This time, I don't have many pressing duties plus several assistants, I have you here with me through the carrying period, and I know I'm not in this alone." Ratchet answered.

"No, you're not." Optimus slid an arm around Ratchet. "I couldn't imagine walking out on you while you're sparked, regardless of my feelings for you. It's just not right." He glanced over at Ratchet. "Do Prowl and Smokescreen know?"

"Yes. When they were old enough to understand that it wasn't their fault, I told them the whole truth. Honestly, if Driftwing is alive and were to show up, I'm quite sure he'd receive a cold acknowledgement from them both. And Prowl might leave him with a broken cheek strut."

"I believe he would deserve that." Optimus murmured.

Ratchet nodded. "In any case, that's why. I was under a lot of stress, which made things worse." He grimaced. "And I made Wheeljack's life hell. I owed him quite a few million apologies once I delivered them."

"I'm sure Wheeljack understood." Optimus stated.

"He did, but it didn't mean he wasn't scared for his life." Ratchet replied.

Optimus pressed a kiss to Ratchet's cheek. "Well, you don't have to worry about that happening now. We're in this together, Ratchet. And we are in this together for the rest of our lives."

Ratchet smiled. "I know." It was an admission that made Ratchet's spark warm at such a prospect and only served to make him love the Prime even more.

* * *

><p>Optimus had been considering something for the last few breem, and his conversation with Ratchet a few nights ago had only served to harden his resolve. He didn't question the fact that he wanted to bond with Ratchet. He didn't care that they had only been in an official relationship with for nine groon. He had loved Ratchet for several vorn, and he had known Ratchet for even longer. The Prime wanted to bond with Ratchet now, but there were a few things he would have to do before he asked.<p>

First and foremost, Optimus intended to talk to First Aid and make sure that there was no danger in him and Ratchet bonding now. He wouldn't do anything that would endanger his and Ratchet's sparklings' lives. As long as there was no danger to the sparklings, then Optimus could go ahead and bond with his lover.

Second, Optimus would need to go to Swiftwind and ask for permission to bond with Ratchet. It was customary back on Cybertron for a mech, in cases of two mechs in a relationship it was the one who decided to ask to bond first, to ask the sire of the one they wanted to bond with for permission to ask them to bond. Optimus knew that Ratchet did adhere to some of the customs of Cybertron, and Optimus knew that that was one of them.

Third, Optimus would need to find the right time or setting in which to ask Ratchet to bond with him. Considering it was Ratchet he was asking, the Prime had a fairly good idea of how to do that. He knew Ratchet rather well and had gotten to know him even better in the last several groon that they had been in a relationship, so he wasn't too concerned on how to ask him.

Lastly, a celebration would need to be planned to celebrate the coming union between the two. It was traditional to have the bonding celebration before the actual bonding took place. Normally, the two who were to bond would bond the night of the bonding celebration. Optimus knew that all he had to do was tell Jazz about it, and he was rather certain that Jazz would manage to plan the entire thing within a single cycle if not a single joor. It would give the saboteur something to do since he knew Jazz had been put off-duty for the final stage of gestation.

Optimus glanced down at the datapad he had been trying to work on and realized that his thoughts were so focused on Ratchet and the prospect of bonding with his lover that he hadn't been able to concentrate at all on his work. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised at that since Ratchet seemed to stay on his processors all the time nowadays.

Optimus had a lot that he was going to have to do in the coming cycles, so he figured that he had better go ahead and get everything set in motion. He only hoped that everything worked out as well as he wanted them to.

After all, if he bonded with Ratchet, then he would have everything that he ever wanted: Ratchet as his mate and a family with Ratchet. All of his dreams could soon be coming true.

* * *

><p>Drop a review and let me know what you thought!<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm leaving for vacation this Saturday, June 16. I will be gone until either Wednesday June 20 and Thurday June 21. I may or may not have access to teh Internet, so I may not be able to do any updating until I get back. I will have a computer with me, so I will try to get some writing done. I'm updating all three stories, so I may not update any of them again until I get back. The next update may be Thurday June 21 or Friday June 22 at the earliest.**

Loving all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

Optimus entered the infirmary and looked around for First Aid. He did not see the medic and wondered where he could be at. He turned on his sensors and found that First Aid was in Ratchet's office. He knew that since Ratchet spent more time out of medbay now than in medbay, First Aid used the office a lot more. It was where Ratchet kept all records on all patients, including the human patients he saw, so it only made sense for First Aid, the acting CMO, to use the office. He walked over and knocked on the door.

"So help me you had better be in danger of offlining!"

Optimus was startled by the sudden shout and was shocked. He was stunned that the normally quiet, calm, and reserved Protectobot had just sounded so much like Ratchet that the Prime felt as if he had been talking to Ratchet, not First Aid. "Are you all right, First Aid?"

The door immediately opened to reveal a flustered First Aid. "I'm sorry, sir. I've had to deal with a lot of insignificant issues today, mainly Sunstreaker and his paintjob. I understand why Ratchet stays so irritated with his job."

Optimus smiled. "It's all right. I just wondered if I could discuss something with. And no, I don't have anything wrong with me."

"Of course, sir." First Aid stepped back to allow the larger mech in the room.

Optimus entered the office and noticed the pile of datapads on the desk. It made him think of his own datapad-covered desk. He was rather certain that his desk wasn't near as cluttered as this one was, though.

"Sorry about the mess. Ratchet has a system that I have yet to learn for dealing with paperwork. He could get through all this in half the time I'll manage." First Aid told Optimus as the young medic sat down behind the desk.

Optimus sat down across from First Aid. He was grateful, not for the first time, that Ratchet had had the forethought to ensure that the other chair in his office was big enough to fit Optimus's larger frame comfortably. Otherwise, it would have been very uncomfortable for the Autobot leader to sit in the chair.

"What can I do for you, sir?" First Aid asked.

"First off, I want you to promise me that what we talk about won't leave this office. I don't want anyone else knowing about it for a bit." Optimus stated.

"Of course, sir." First Aid wondered what could be so important that the Prime wouldn't want him to talk about it. Regardless of what it was, the medic was good at keeping secrets considering the fact that First Aid had to keep patients' records confidential as a medic.

"First Aid, I'm planning to ask Ratchet to bond with me very soon." Optimus told him.

First Aid was stunned, but pleased. "That's wonderful news, sir."

Optimus smiled. "Thank you. The reason that I am here is because I want to make sure that our bonding is safe. I don't want to endanger the sparklings by our bonding."

"Oh! I understand, sir, and yes, it's safe. The only time that bonding or spark merging is a danger to the sparklings is in the first stage. Once the sparkling's spark separates from the carrier's spark and enters the gestation chamber, it's safe for spark merging." First Aid explained.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure before I suggested it that there was no danger to them." Optimus replied.

"You'll be fine, sir. There won't be any danger to Ratchet or the sparklings." First Aid assured him.

"Thank you, First Aid. That is all that I wished to know." Optimus stated before standing up.

First Aid stood as well as a sign of respect to his Prime. "Considering that this is Ratchet we're talking about, I'll wish you luck."

Optimus was surprised at how much everyone thought it would be difficult being in a relationship with Ratchet was. It was actually easy being with the medic as Ratchet let his walls down and allowed the Prime to see the tamer, more caring side of personality. "Thank you, First Aid. I'll allow you to get back to your work." The Prime turned and left the office.

Well, step one was out of the way.

* * *

><p>Ratchet was sitting on the couch doing more leisure reading. He had found himself becoming more and more engrossed in the romance novels that humans wrote. It was a fact that most would probably have a spark attack if they were to learn about his love of romance novels. It didn't fit with Ratchet's personality at all.<p>

The medic had always enjoyed a good romance novel, even back on Cybertron before the war. He found that there were a great many Cybertronian romance novels that he greatly enjoyed, and he found that humans had a nice array of romance novels as well.

Unfortunately, Ratchet's quiet reading was interrupted by none other than his carrier. He so regretted giving her the access code.

"So, how are you doing, Ratchet?" Starlight asked.

"I'm fine, Carrier. Everything with the sparklings is fine, I am fine, so there's no reason for you to worry." Ratchet told her.

"Now, is there anything I can do for you?" Starlight asked.

Leave me alone and let me read in peace was what Ratchet wanted to say to her, but he knew that it would be better if he didn't say something like that to his carrier, who was only trying to look after him. "No, Carrier. I'm fine. I've just been spending the cycle relaxing as I don't have to work in medbay today."

"Are you certain? You know that I'll do anything." Starlight told him.

"I know, Carrier, but there's nothing that you need to do." Ratchet replied. He really just wanted to get back to his novel. It had been getting good, and he wanted to find out what was going to happen next.

"Now, now. There's always something to do." Starlight glanced around and an idea came to her. "How about I clean up?"

Ratchet started to say something.

"Hey, Ratchet!"

Ratchet released a groan at the sound of his sister's voice. "What do you want, Elita?"

"Just wondered how you were?" Elita answered as she looked in.

Chromia looked in right behind Elita. "That makes two of us."

"There are three of other sparked mechs on this base. Can't you go check on them?" Ratchet asked, getting irritated.

"Well, Hot Shot is fawning all over Smokescreen at the moment, and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are barely leaving Bluestreak alone for more than a few joor at a time. Jazz is staying in the rec room all the time, so there's always someone around him. You're the only one whose mate isn't staying close by every second or who is mingling with everyone." Elita replied.

Because his mate knew he was fine and knew he would call if he needed anything. Plus, Ratchet wanted to be alone to do some reading. Ratchet was close to actually saying that, but resisted the urge. "All right. I'm fine. You can go now."

Chromia laughed. "You really think that we're leaving that easy. If there's anything you need, we'll take care of it."

"I've already offered, Chromia. I'm just cleaning up their quarters." Starlight answered.

As if their quarters needed to be cleaned. Was to be left alone too much to ask? At least when Optimus saw that the medic was reading, he didn't bother him. Just did something else while Ratchet read or lay down on the couch with Ratchet with his helm in Ratchet's lap quietly.

"Hey, Ratchet!"

Ratchet barely retrained his growl at the sound of his brother's voice. "What do you want, Wheeljack?"

"I've been designing toys for all the sparklings, but wanted to know if you wanted some of the more feminine toys of the femme like humans have for their human female babies." Wheeljack stated.

"Go ahead, 'Jack." Ratchet prayed that this would get rid of his brother, but he had no such luck.

"Oh, good. I have some schematics of those types of toys that I wanted to show you. Let me know what you think of them." Wheeljack started pulling them from subspace.

Ratchet barely restrained his anger. He just wanted to be left alone.

"Come now, Wheeljack. That can wait. The sparklings won't be here for another nine groon, so there's no reason to do something like that. Ratchet could use the rest." Starlight said.

"It won't take long, Carrier." Wheeljack assured her.

"Oh, he can do that later, Wheeljack. No rush." Chromia stated.

"Yeah. Ratchet could use the rest. He is carrying three this time, meaning that he's going to have a harder time carrying them than he did when he carried Prowl and Smokescreen." Elita added.

Ratchet was rapidly losing his temper.

"Ah, come on. It won't take that long, and all Ratchet has to do is look at them and decide if he wants them built or not." Wheeljack stated.

"I'm certain that Ratchet could use the rest, Wheeljack. Carrying is taxing on any carrier when they are carrying one, which means that it's going to be even more taxing Ratchet this time." Chromia added.

Ratchet wanted to tell them that it hadn't been taxing on him at all. He had felt fine so far. He just could feel the added weight to his frame was all. Other than that, he was absolutely fine.

"Come on. It won't take long, and it's not like it's going to stress him out." Wheeljack persisted.

Ratchet growled as he rose to his pedes. "All right! Get out!"

All optics turned to Ratchet.

Starlight then looked at Wheeljack. "You see, Wheeljack. Now you've upset him."

"I am not upset. I would just like you to leave. All of you." Ratchet snapped.

"Now Ratchet-" Starlight started.

"No, Carrier. I have been perfectly fine the entire time. If I need anything, all I need to do is comm Optimus, and he'll be right here. I was enjoying a quiet day of resting and doing some leisure reading that **ALL **of you have interrupted. I am fine, and I don't need you to do anything. So get out! All of you!" Ratchet snarled.

Starlight, Elita, and Chromia took the hint and quickly vacated the room. Wheeljack had gotten the hint when Ratchet first shouted at them to get out and was long gone.

Ratchet released a relieved sigh at the quiet. He sank back down on the couch before resuming his reading, glad for the peace once more.

* * *

><p>Optimus had had to get some work done before he found the time to track Swiftwind down to ask him for permission to ask Ratchet to bond. He found the old medic in the rec room alone with some datapads in his hand. "Are you busy, Swiftwind?"<p>

Swiftwind looked up at Optimus. "Oh! Optimus, I didn't even realize that you were here." He set the datapads aside. "Since I'm working in the infirmary now, First Aid thought that it would be a good idea for me to learn about human biology. I'm playing student now."

Optimus smiled. "Well, it does help that our medics are able to take care of human patients as well as Cybertronian patients."

"Indeed." Swiftwind set the datapad that he had been reading down before he turned to Optimus. "Was there something that you wanted, Optimus?"

"Actually, there is." Optimus sat down on the couch by the older mech. "I've been doing a great deal of thinking, Swiftwind, and I wanted to ask your permission to ask Ratchet to bond with me."

Swiftwind was a bit surprised by that.

"I know that we haven't actually been together that long by any standard, but I know that Ratchet is the one for me. I don't want to put off bonding with Ratchet for any reason. I love him, and I want him to officially be my mate." Optimus explained.

Swiftwind chuckled. "I was more shocked that you were bothering to even ask me. With Cybertron gone, I thought that those types of traditions wouldn't hold up anymore."

"Well, if you weren't here, I probably wouldn't have bothered, but I know that Ratchet holds on to some of those traditions, and he's admitted that that would be one of them. Since you are here on Earth, I thought that I would ask." Optimus explained.

Swiftwind smiled. "Well, you have my permission. I know that my son couldn't be in better hands."

Optimus was a bit surprised by that. "Because I'm a Prime?"

"No. Because you're Nemesis's son, and I know that he would have raised you right. Besides, you've more than proven that you're nothing like Driftstream. Even before you became Prime." Swiftwind froze as he realized that Ratchet might not have told Optimus about Driftstream and what happened yet.

"It's all right. I know about Driftstream." Optimus told him.

"Good. Ratchet would have killed me if I had told you about him before he did." Swiftwind stated.

Optimus could see that. "Well, I would never do something like that regardless of the circumstances. I'm just glad that things worked out for Ratchet in the long run."

"Indeed. Prowl and Smokescreen turned out to be fine mechs in the end. Granted, Ratchet had to raise them alone, which was a challenge, but he did well with them. Most thought that Ratchet wouldn't be a good medic considering the fact that he was raising them alone, but he showed them all." Swiftwind chuckled. "I honestly think Ratchet pushed himself to become such a good medic because he wanted to show those who thought that he had ruined his life by keeping Prowl and Smokescreen that he could be both a good medic and a single carrier. I believe that he proved them right."

"Yes. He did." Optimus agreed. He was amazed that Ratchet managed to do so well for himself and raise his two creations at the same time. It was rare to hear something like that, but it was a good thing that Ratchet managed to do it in the end.

Swiftwind glanced over at Optimus. "And when do you plan to ask Ratchet?"

"Soon." Optimus answered.

Swiftwind nodded. "Well, I don't doubt that Ratchet will say yes. Just one question. Who do you plan on asking to get the celebration put together?"

Optimus smiled. "Considering Jazz is now on leave for the last stage, I thought about asking him. It would give him something to do. Besides, we both know that Jazz loves throwing parties."

"That he does. One of the reasons why I wonder how Prowl ended up involved with Jazz. They are two completely different mechs." Swiftwind considered that a moment. "Then again, you and Ratchet are two completely different mechs as well, and it seems to work for you."

"Sometimes, two bots being complete opposites are exactly what they need. They balance the other out. Jazz makes sure Prowl has fun in his life while Prowl keeps Jazz on track when he needs to." Optimus stated.

"You're right. Primus knows Prowl wouldn't go to any parties or loosen up without Jazz in his life." Swiftwind smirked. "I suppose your calm demeanor balances out Ratchet's normal short temper. I think you're one of the few that he doesn't yell at on a regular basis."

"Because I learned quickly that I did not enjoy being on the receiving end of Ratchet's wrenches and chose not to do anything that would incite Ratchet to use them on me." Optimus replied.

Swiftwind snickered. "Well, he's got something else to use on you now. He could easily kick you out of the berth if you do anything that pisses him off."

Optimus grimaced at that thought, although considering how enthusiastic Ratchet appeared to be in the berth, the Prime wasn't sure that Ratchet would use that as a form of punishment. That would be more like punishing Ratchet as well.

"In any case, I believe I'll let you get back to your homework." Optimus stated as he stood up.

"I wish you wouldn't. I would prefer to leave caring for the humans to First Aid, Ratchet, or Jolt. They are more experienced in dealing with humans than I am. I would rather stick to caring for the Autobots." Swiftwind stated despite the fact that he was already picking up the datapad.

"It never hurts for you to have the knowledge to aid the humans should the need ever arise, though." Optimus stated.

"True enough." Swiftwind would never understand what it was with Prime's and being so wise.

Optimus then turned and left the rec room, intent on continuing to plan how he would ask Ratchet to bond with him.

Swiftwind looked up as the Prime left as he allowed a smile to cross his lips. He was glad that his son was going to be bonded soon. Of all his creations, Ratchet was the one that Swiftwind had worried would never find a mate solely because Ratchet's personality wouldn't be the easiest for any bot to deal with. Wheeljack was already bonded, and Swiftwind didn't worry about Elita finding a mate. He knew she just had no desire to find one while the war was still going on. Ratchet had always been the one that worried Swiftwind.

Now that Optimus was planning to ask him, it made Swiftwind feel a lot more at ease. He knew that his son's spark was going to be in good hands. It would allow the old medic to finally rest easy about Ratchet.

Swiftwind turned his attention back to the datapad, knowing that he did need to know about human biology. He would just pray to Primus that he would never have to put this knowledge into practice.

* * *

><p>"I appreciate you helping me do this, Grand-Carrier. Sideswipe is currently getting a lecture from Ironhide about weapon safety after that incident earlier today, and Sunny is currently on patrol." Bluestreak stated as he and Ratchet got some things in the nursery for Bluestreak's sparklings arranged.<p>

Ratchet smiled at his grand-creation. "I'm glad to help, Bluestreak. It gives me a reason to get out of my quarters and away from my carrier."

Bluestreak laughed. "I understand what you mean. She's been going crazy with me lately. She's always asking me if I need anything, she's always trying to do things for me, and she's constantly on me about taking it easy, getting the energon, and not doing anything strenuous. As if Sides and Sunny would let me do anything strenuous." Bluestreak shook his helm. "You'd think I was dying the way they act. I mean, carrying isn't easy in the later stages, but it's nothing terribly difficult, either. Getting Sunny to open up was harder than carrying is. I don't know why they think I have to be watched every second of the day. It's not like I'm going to do anything I shouldn't. I wouldn't endanger the sparklings lives to do something I'm not supposed to."

Not for the first time, Ratchet wondered why Bluestreak rambled on and on so much. It's wasn't a trait that was known in his family, and as far as he knew, Jazz's family wasn't known for it, either. So how Bluestreak ended up being a mech who rambled so much wasn't something Ratchet had the answer to. He assumed that it was just a personality quirk for Bluestreak. "Bluestreak, mates tend to worry when their mate is sparked. It's just a part of sire protocol. They become concerned and they become mother hens, to use the human phrase."

Bluestreak laughed. "I thought you hated human phrases."

Ratchet smiled. "I do, but the term fits how sires act. And unfortunately, the carrier to the sparked bot usually becomes a mother hen, too." The chartreuse medic released a sigh. "Primus knows my carrier was worse than this when I was carrying Prowl and Smokescreen."

"She was worse?" Bluestreak didn't think that something like that was possible.

Ratchet nodded.

The two had managed to get the toys and smaller things that Wheeljack had made arranged the way the grey Praxian wanted them arranged. The larger of furniture would have to wait and be moved by Sideswipe and Sunstreaker later.

"Grand-Carrier, what's going on with you and Optimus?" Bluestreak asked.

Ratchet was a bit surprised by the sudden question and turned to look at the younger mech. "What are you talking about, Blue?"

Bluestreak shrugged. "I just mean that you two have been in love with each other for several vorn, and you're having three sparklings together. I just wondered if you two were going to bond before they came or not."

"Bluestreak, that is between Optimus and me. If we do decide to bond, then you'll find out when everyone else does." Ratchet replied.

Bluestreak smiled. "Just wondering."

Ratchet hated Bluestreak's nosy nature and wished that he had been a lot more like Prowl in not sticking his nose into other bot's business. The medic knew that Bluestreak got that from Jazz.

* * *

><p>Ratchet headed back to his and Optimus's quarters after helping Bluestreak. He was glad that he had gotten out of there before Sideswipe and Sunstreaker arrived. He did care about the two frontliners since they were his grand-creation's mates, but that didn't mean that the duo didn't drive Ratchet insane.<p>

Checking his chronometer, Ratchet realized that his lover probably hadn't arrived back at their quarters yet. It meant he could either take a little nap or do some reading. He'd probably take a little nap, though. He was a bit tired.

Upon entering his quarters, all thoughts of taking a nap flew from the medic's processors as he noticed that the room was lit dimly. He also noticed that there were scented candles set up around the room. The smell was pleasing to his olfactory sensors. He also saw there were two cubes of energon set on the table in the room.

Ratchet knew that Optimus was the one that had to have done this, but the question that was going through his processors was why. There was nothing especially significant about the day that the medic knew of, and it wasn't like Optimus needed to apologize for anything since the Prime hadn't done anything to piss the chartreuse mech off. So why had the Prime set up a scene that would be in one of the humans' romantic novels that he was reading. Ah, who was he kidding? This type of scene would have been set up on Cybertron, only with a few minor differences, but the intent would be the same.

Arms wrapped around the medic from behind and pulled him back against a large body. Lips then pressed lightly into the back of Ratchet's neck before a deep voice said, "Do you like it?"

"Yes, I do, but why did you do this?" Ratchet asked.

Optimus chuckled. "I wanted to have a romantic night with my lover. So sue me."

"You didn't have to do something like this." Ratchet told him.

"I know, but we sort of skipped the courting stage of our relationship and went straight to interfacing." Optimus replied.

Ratchet laughed. "You realize that most Cybertronians do interface the first night they go out together."

"Yes, but most Cybertronians wait awhile before they spark merge or have sparklings. In fact, most wait until they have bonded." Optimus hadn't intended to ask Ratchet this soon, but since he had brought it up, he decided that this would be the perfect time to ask him.

Ratchet turned around to face his lover. "Optimus, can I ask you a question?"

Optimus was a bit startled by that. "Of course you can." He wasn't sure why Ratchet was asking that considering the fact that he had never been able to deny the medic anything since they had gotten together. Even before that it was hard for the Prime to deny Ratchet anything.

"Will you bond with me?" Ratchet asked.

Optimus was more than a bit startled by that. Especially when he considered the fact that he had been planning to ask Ratchet that very thing. "What?"

"I know that we have not actually been in a relationship that long, but this just feels too right now to not bond. I've never felt this way about anybot else, and I know that I won't feel this way about any other bot. I want us to bond now. There's no threat to the sparklings, and I would like for us to bond before they arrive." Ratchet told him.

Optimus was silent for a moment as he processed that statement. He then promptly burst out laughing.

Ratchet was stunned by that before his customary glare crossed his face. "And just what is so funny about that?"

Optimus shook his helm before reaching out and taking Ratchet's hands in his own. "What you asked isn't funny, Ratchet. The funny part is the fact that I set all this up with the intention of asking you that very question. I was planning to ask you to bond with me."

Ratchet was stunned to hear that before he started laughing as well. "I suppose we had the same idea then."

"It would appear so." Optimus wrapped his arms around Ratchet and pulled him close. "I suppose neither of us really need to give an answer, but I will bond with you."

"I got that feeling." Ratchet murmured.

Optimus leaned down and kissed Ratchet.

"I was thinking about who we could get to plan the celebration." Ratchet stated.

"I had an idea, too." Optimus agreed.

At the same time, the two said, "Jazz."

That startled them both as they wouldn't have thought that they would have thought the same mech in addition to wanting to bond art the same time.

"Jazz needs something to do before he drives Prowl insane or goes insane himself. Besides, we know Jazz's penchant for planning parties. He could have one planned in half a joor." Ratchet stated.

"I had the same thought." The Prime was quiet a moment as he considered something. "How long should we wait before having the celebration?" He was anxious to bond with his liver.

"I'd say a week considering Lennox's rule about no parties without a week's notice." Ratchet replied.

Optimus sighed. "Ah, yes. Jazz's party to celebrate the victory in Mission City. I believe that party got a bit too out-of-control for Colonel Lennox's taste. Not that I blame him."

"Me, either. Jazz does have a tendency to let his parties get a bit out-of-control." Ratchet smirked. "The colonel might want to be thankful that Blaster is not on Earth as well."

Optimus groaned. "The processor-aches I got from the parties those two threw."

Ratchet snorted. "Your processor-aches came from the fact that you drank far too much high grade during the parties. I should know. You always came to me for something to help with it so that you could actually do work."

"True." Optimus chuckled. "Although I have to admit that another reason I went was to see you."

Ratchet smiled. "In any case, I'm glad that we're on the same wavelength as far as this relationship goes."

"As am I." Optimus leaned down and kissed Ratchet once more. "How about we seal the deal?"

Ratchet chuckled. "As if the night would have ended any other way."

"It's not my fault that you seem to be so eager to interface." Optimus retorted as he grabbed the cubes of energon before they headed to their berth room.

"And I told you that while I never indulged in casual interfacing, I tended to be very randy when I am in a relationship with another." Ratchet replied as he entered their berth room.

Optimus smirked. "I never said I was upset by it. Few would be upset when they get to interface nightly."

Ratchet chuckled. "Agreed." He didn't have the time to say anything else as he soon found himself pinned to the berth. "And I see that you prefer being the dominate one."

Optimus leaned down and kissed Ratchet. "Yes, I do, and I haven't heard any complaints from you so far."

"You won't hear any, either." Ratchet murmured.

"Good." Optimus leaned down and kissed Ratchet.

Very little was said after that.

* * *

><p>Drop a review and tell me what you thought!<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

**And I'm back! Had a great vacation, so here's the first chapter since getting back!**

Again, love all the support!

**THERE IS MAJOR STICKY AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. IF YOU DON'T LIKE READNG SEX SCENES, I SUGGEST YOU STOP READING AFTER THE PARTY!**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 14<p>

Jazz's visor immediately lit up a bright blue in his pure excitement. "Really! You want me to plan the celebration!"

Ratchet was wondering if Jazz was going to start jumping up and down in his excitement. The medic swore that Jazz could act like an overexcited sparklings at times. "Yes, Jazz. We want you to plan the bonding celebration."

"That's great! When do you want it?" Jazz asked.

"In a breem. I do not believe Colonel Lennox would be thrilled if we were to have the celebration this very night." Optimus answered.

"Oh, yeah. The "week's notice before a party" rule." Jazz scratched the side of his helm. "I still don't get why he made that a rule."

Ratchet rolled his optics. "Perhaps it's because your party after Mission City destroyed half of the base."

"It did-" Jazz started.

"Jazz, I have seen the aftermath of the parties that you and Blaster threw. The party after Mission City was the worst that I have ever seen." Optimus would have to admit that it was a good party, but it wasn't exactly something that they would want to go through every time Jazz threw a party. It had taken the Prime a while to calm Lennox down and assure them that they would fix the damage.

"Yeah. It was pretty bad in the aftermath." Jazz admitted.

"Regardless, you have a week to get the celebration planned, Jazz." Ratchet decided that he needed to give the saboteur a few reminders. "Jazz, please remember that this is us bonding, so try to keep the celebration tamer than you usually do."

"No problem, doc. I got this." Jazz assured him.

"And don't forget that four of us are sparked." Ratchet added.

"I know. Low amounts of high grade at the celebration. Don't worry, doc. I know what I need to do." Jazz's visor lit up again. "I can get Smokey and Blue to help! I'm sure that they'll love to help."

Ratchet didn't mind that too much since he was fairly certain that Bluestreak and Smokescreen could use something to occupy their processors in their last few groons of gestation. At least it would give them something else to think about for the time being.

"I'll get Sideswipe to help! He's always up to help plan a party!" With that, Jazz jumped up and headed out the door to recruit his team to plan the party.

Ratchet stood there a moment before turning to Optimus. "I suddenly feel apprehensive about this."

Optimus was surprised. "Because it's becoming a reality?"

"No. Because Sideswipe is going to help." Ratchet answered.

Optimus chuckled before wrapping his arms around Ratchet and gently kissing the back of his neck. "Calm down, Ratchet. I'm sure that everything is going to be fine. Sideswipe won't chance Bluestreak's wrath." The Prime paused a moment. "Or yours for that matter."

Ratchet snorted. "Have I told you about the type of party Jazz and Sideswipe planned for one of my creation days?"

"I don't believe so." Optimus replied.

"Let's just say they both wound up with processor aches that lasted for an entire groon." Ratchet shook his helm. "And the place the party was held was destroyed. And there were a few pleasure bots there."

Optimus froze. "Pleasure bots?"

"That was Sideswipe's doing and the reason that his processor ache was so much worse than Jazz's." Ratchet explained.

Optimus wasn't sure if he should be amused or horrified.

"Why Sideswipe thought that would be a good idea is something that I will never know. I've never indulged in casual interfacing and certainly not the paid type." Ratchet shook his helm. "It was probably only because of Bluestreak that I did not kill him."

Optimus could certainly see that. "Well, Sideswipe won't pull something like that again. And I'm certain that Bluestreak will keep him in line." He hoped he did, anyways.

* * *

><p>"Hold it! Hold it! Hold it!" Lennox was about to have a full blown panic attack at the idea of Jazz throwing another one of his infamous parties. He always ended up with headaches the size of Optimus and brass breathing down his neck about the damage that said parties usually caused, even though the Autobots repaired everything. "Why the hell is Jazz throwing a party! He just threw one a few months ago!"<p>

"Seven months, actually." Ratchet replied. He remembered is quite clearly since Jazz had decided to throw a party to celebrate all the sparklings that were coming.

"That's one month to me! I just barely got the brass off my back about it! I don't need them on my ass again because Jazz wants to throw a party!" Lennox couldn't understand why they didn't see that it was his ass on the line every time the bots got overcharged and caused damage.

"Colonel Lennox, this is not an ordinary party." Optimus told him calmly. He could understand Lennox's concern as he also had to answer for what his bots did as Lennox had to answer for his men plus the Autobots. "This party is a bonding celebration."

"What's a bonding celebration?" Lennox asked.

Optimus turned to Ratchet for help, unsure of how to explain it.

Ratchet sighed before turning to the colonel. "Bonding or being bonded is similar to your marriage. The only difference is that once you are bonded, there is no breaking it. Divorce is completely unheard of in our society. A bond can only be broken by the deactivation of one of the two. And normally, the other does not survive long after the bond is broken unless they have young creations that need them."

"Oh, so it's like a wedding." Lennox said.

"No. We do not have wedding as you know them. You see, the actual bonding of two sparks comes through spark merging when both bots lower all firewalls and activate their bonding protocols." Ratchet stated.

"So, you bond through-interfacing?" It took Lennox a moment to remember how they termed it.

"In essence, yes. But we do not enter into bonds lightly. It's for life, so we always make sure it's who we want to bond with. The bonding celebration is similar to a wedding reception. The only difference is that while your people marry before such a party, we have the bonding celebration before we actually bond." Ratchet explained.

"So, when would you bond?" Lennox asked.

"Normally the night of the bonding celebration. It's rare for it to take place before that day, and most bots want to bond that night." Ratchet replied.

"So, I'm assuming you'll both be taking the next day off." Lennox surmised.

"Most likely. It'll take a few weeks for the bond to settle, so we'll probably stay in close proximity of each other for that time." Ratchet added.

"So, you'll spend the entire two weeks together?" Lennox asked.

"No. Nothing like that. We'll probably simply go see each other more than usual." Ratchet answered.

Lennox sighed before asking the question that he dreaded. "Just how bad is this celebration going to be?"

"If Jazz knows what's good for him, it will be tame." Ratchet growled.

"Most bonding celebrations are very tame, Lennox. You'll be shocked and relieved. There will be minimal high grade there. It's simply the chance for others to congratulate the pair that is bonding and to wish them well on their bonding." Optimus assured him.

It didn't sound too bad, the colonel supposed. Although he knew Jazz, and he knew that anything Jazz planned might end up giving him a headache and quite the chewing out by the brass. He just hoped that he was wrong. "All right. I'm blaming you if this gets out of control."

"Of course, Colonel." Optimus replied.

* * *

><p>The cycle of the bonding celebration had come.<p>

As tradition had dictated, much like the human tradition, Ratchet and Optimus hadn't seen each other the entire cycle.

Ratchet had spent the cycle in his creators' quarters, which had nearly driven him insane the way his carrier continually fawned all over him.

"Oh, I can't believe this! I wasn't sure if I would ever see the cycle that you chose to bond, Ratchet! I'm so glad that I lived to see this day! And to see my grand-creations!" Starlight squealed.

Ratchet sighed. "Carrier, Prowl and Smokescreen are also your grand-creations."

"Oh, I know. I only seem to get grand-creations out of you." Starlight then turned to face her other two creations. "And just when am I going to get some grand-creations out of you two!"

Elita had a look of shock on her faceplates while Wheeljack's helm-fins had lit up in alarm at that.

"Hey! Don't look at me!" Elita held up her hands. "I'm not even bonded yet! I'm not even in a relationship!" She then pointed at her other brother. "Talk to him!"

"What! We're still in the middle of a war!" Wheeljack protested.

"Ratchet's sparked." Starlight stated.

Ratchet smirked, glad her attention was on them and enjoying his siblings discomfort at the topic at hand and the fact that it was directed at them.

"Ratchet was under the influence of the mating cycle! If he hadn't been, I don't think he would have gotten sparked in the first place!" Wheeljack added, knowing that was a logical assumption.

"And what about Jazz and Prowl? Neither were under the influence of a mating cycle, and they are having twins." Starlight pointed out.

Wheeljack was running out of excuses. "Come on, Carrier!"

Swiftwind walked over and sat down by Ratchet. "Enjoying this?"

"Her attention on them? I'm thrilled with it." Ratchet replied. He could feel slight movement within the gestation chamber. He had been feeling that a lot in the last few cycles. He knew that he would feel a lot more movement from the sparklings as their protoforms grew bigger. He lifted a hand and pressed it against the lower portion of his chest plates where the gestation chamber lay.

Swiftwind immediately noticed this. "Are you all right?" He was concerned for Ratchet and the sparklings.

Ratchet waved him off. "I'm fine, Sire. I've just been feeling the sparklings move slightly the last few cycles. That's all."

"You have!"

Ratchet jumped slightly at his carrier's sudden exclamation and turned to find that her attention was once more focused on him.

"Why haven't you mentioned something before now!" Starlight asked excitedly.

"Because it's only been for a few cycles, and it's not that much movement, Carrier. You know I'm not far enough along to feel a great deal of movement from them." Ratchet told her.

"Still! This is incredible news!" Starlight squealed happily.

Elita and Wheeljack sighed in relief that the attention was no longer on them and their carrier was fussing about Ratchet's sparklings, not demanding to know when they would have sparklings.

Ratchet mentally sighed, hoping that Optimus was having better luck than he was.

* * *

><p>While Ratchet was remaining in his creator's quarters for the time being, Optimus had gone about his normal duties as he tried to get some of the work that needed done finished. He didn't want to leave it all for Prowl and his sire to try to do while he had the following day off.<p>

A moment later, his office door opened, and Ironhide strolled in. "So, today's the big day. Why are you working?"

Optimus sighed. "Because I don't want to leave all of this to my sire and Prowl. It's not right for them to have to come in and do all my work."

"This is supposed to be your day with Ratchet. No need for you to stay in here doing all this. Let them deal with this slag." Ironhide stated.

Optimus looked up at the black mech. "And just what am I supposed to do, Ironhide? The celebration is not until 1800 this evening. I am not permitted to see Ratchet until we entered the rec room together. That leaves little else for me to do." Optimus told him.

"You could always get your quarters ready for tonight." The Weapon's Specialist grinned. "We all know that you ain't doin' any rechargin' tonight."

"There is nothing to get ready." Optimus replied.

Ironhide frowned. "Come on, Prime. You've got ta make your bonding night special."

Optimus raised an optic ridge. "More special than bonding with the mech that I have been in love with for several vorn and who is currently carrying my sparklings?"

"Come on, Prime. You're a smart mech. Surely you can come up wit' somethin' that'll make is special." Ironhide told him.

Optimus smiled. "Ironhide, I know that, and I've already done it."

"You have?" Ironhide was surprised.

"Yes. I know that something like that is important, Ironhide, and I've already gotten that take care of." Optimus assured his friend. In all honestly, he hadn't done anything because he knew Ratchet didn't want anything done. But at least Ironhide would be off his back.

"Huh." Ironhide leaned back. "All I know is that I'm glad that you two are finally together." He grinned. "Just took a mating cycle and you sparking Ratchet to finally accomplish it."

Optimus glared at him. "And just why are you so glad about it, Ironhide?"

"One, it proved to me that I was wrong in my assumption that Hatchet would never bond. Two, I was getting sick and tired of seeing you watching the ole' doc with so much longing. It was irritating to say the least. Now that you two are actually bonding, I know that I won't have to deal with that anymore."

"Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that you are simply happy for us." Optimus retorted, leaning back in his chair.

"Ah, come on. You know I'm happy for you two. Never thought that the doc would actually bond with anybot, and it was gettin' a little old to see you watching him from afar and never doin' anythin' about it." Ironhide then turned serious. "I really am happy for you two, though. I can easily see how much you love Ratchet, and how much Ratchet loves you, so it works. Never thought that you two would actually be the ones to bond consider how different you two are, but it works for you, and that's what matters." Ironhide told him.

"Hmm. That is true." Optimus had to admit that when he was still Orion Pax, he probably wouldn't have considered that he would end up with somebot with a personality like Ratchet's simply because that type of personality would have put him off. Ratchet's personality had put him off at first, but that had changed once he got to know the real Ratchet. They were completely different mechs, but that was why, Optimus thought, they worked so well. They balanced the other out.

"So, what have you got planned?" Ironhide asked.

"If I told you that, Ratchet would kill me." Optimus replied.

"True enough." Ironhide agreed. He watched the Prime for a few more moments. "Ya know, I'm rather surprised. Most are nervous the day of their bonding celebration, but you don't look at all worried about it."

"I'm not, Ironhide. As far as I am concerned, there's nothing to be concerned about. I know that Ratchet is the one that I want to spend the rest of my function with, and other than actually being bonded, we are mates in every way." Optimus told him.

"Hmm. Suppose that's true." Ironhide had to admit that the Prime and the medic did act as though they were already bonded.

"In any case, I don't have a reason to be concerned about my bonding with Ratchet. I know that things are going to be all right." Optimus told him.

"If ya say so." Ironhide replied.

* * *

><p>That night, the rec room had been set up entirely for the purpose of celebrating Optimus and Ratchet's bonding, which would take place that night.<p>

All of the mechs and femmes on the base were excited about this, partly because of the fact that it was their Prime having chosen his mate after all this time. They were also excited because the joining of two sparks in a permanent bond was a wondrous event for any Cybertronian.

The humans simply saw this as chance to congratulate the new couple since they didn't understand the depth of the bond that the two would end up sharing. It was difficult for humans, who do not form bonds that are engrained deep within their very sparks, to fully understand the bond that Cybertronians shared.

The concept of divorce was something that had shocked the Autobots when they first started to learn about their new allies' culture. Ending relationships before bonds were rather common in Cybertronian society, but the idea of breaking a bond as some humans did so callously was appalling to Cybertronians. Bonds were sacred to them and were not meant to be broken for any reason.

Regardless, the Cybertronians on base, even if they themselves were not bonded, understood how deeply the love between their Prime and their CMO went. It was cause for a great celebration that this was to happen.

Optimus met up with Ratchet outside of the medic's creators' quarters. He smiled the moment that he saw the chartreuse medic step out of the room. He noticed that Ratchet's frame has been repainted and polished, as was customary with the two who were to bond. The Prime himself had been newly repainted and polished at his creators' insistence. He hadn't planned to, but he couldn't deny his creators this in this case. "You look nice, Ratchet." He slid an arm around Ratchet's waist as he pulled the medic close, being careful not to scuff either of their paintjobs. At least not until they reached their quarters that night.

Ratchet sighed. "Yes, well, my carrier was not going to allow me to go to our bonding celebration unless I was repainted and polished." He shook his helm. "The roughest part was trying to repaint my chest plates."

Optimus raised an optic ridge, an indicator that he needed a better explanation.

"The area right over the gestation chamber is very sensitive and not easy to mess with while sparked." Ratchet explained.

"Oh. That must have been-" Optimus started.

"Difficult? It was. Sire ended up having to do it since he would have the skill to handle it as gently as possible." Ratchet replied.

"Hmm. Well, at least it won't happen again." Optimus told him.

Ratchet nodded his helm. "I know. At least the other medics are the only ones that are going to have to mess with that area." He smiled. "Well, other than you."

Optimus chuckled. "Indeed." He checked his chronometer and realized that it was time for them to head to the rec room. "Come on. We should get going."

"Right." Ratchet agreed. He shook his helm. "I swear that if Jazz has not kept this party calm and simple, I will kill him once he has the sparklings."

Optimus chuckled. "I'm certain that Jazz will keep things at a level we would appreciate."

Ratchet could only hope that his son-in-law would do what his soon-to-be mate seemed think Jazz would do.

The two mechs soon arrived at the rec room. The two waited a moment before they finally opened the doors and entered the room.

The mechs and femme who were in the room smiled at the two mechs as soon as they entered the room and started clapping for them.

"Hey! Congratulations, guys!" Epps smirked. "Glad you're not running anymore, OP."

That drew a laugh from the majority of the room.

Optimus merely groaned while Ratchet sighed, deciding to let the sergeant off this once, although he was not about to let it continue after this day.

Ratchet was pleasantly surprised to find that there was soft Cybertronian music flowing from the speakers. It was a song that was normally played at a bonding ceremony. He was glad that Optimus had ended up being right. He would have hated to kill his son's mate.

"Well, I believe that congratulations are in order." Nemesis Prime stated as he stepped forward to face his son and Ratchet. He smiled at them both. "May Primus bless your union."

Thank you, Sire." Optimus murmured.

Swiftwind was the next one that stepped forward. He hadn't been sure that he would ever see the cycle that Ratchet ended up bonding. He had feared his son would never find somebot that he would be willing to bond with or who would want to bond with him. "Congratulations. Both of you. This is truly a great day." For more than one reason. Swiftwind had never expected Ratchet to end up bonding with a Prime, much less the son of his best friend. "May Primus bless your union."

"Thank you, Sire." Ratchet told him.

The humans had been warned beforehand that this would happen as it was normal in any Cybertronian bonding ceremony.

Once the sires of the two mechs bonding had given their blessing, the entire room started to buzz with the movements that all made, Cybertronian and human alike.

Sideswipe came up to Optimus and Ratchet with a cube of energon in each hand. The dark pink energon was obviously high grade while the light blue energon was obviously mid-grade. The red front liner made sure that the mid-grade went to Ratchet.

"Thank you, Sideswipe. I'm amazed that there is not more high grade here." Ratchet stated.

Sideswipe shrugged. "Blue wouldn't allow it. And I really don't want to get on his bad side." The red front liner shivered at that thought. "Praxian carrying protocols are scary."

Ratchet chuckled. "Don't worry, Sideswipe. It will get better."

Sideswipe nodded before walking off.

"After Bluestreak threatens to send them both to the Well while he's in labor." Ratchet muttered before taking a sip of energon.

"Yeah. That's not exactly what I would call comfortable." Jazz grimaced. "Painful is more like it. I'm nervous about giving birth to twins this time around."

"May I give you something to think about that may help." Ratchet asked.

Jazz looked at him. "What's that?"

"I'll be giving birth to triplets."

Jazz thought about that a moment. "Ya know, that does help."

"I thought it would." Ratchet answered.

"Regardless, congratulations." Jazz told them.

"Thank you, Jazz." Optimus told them.

Prowl walked up to them then. "You'll be happy to know that all of the music selections will be to your liking, Carrier." He glanced at his mate. "I made sure of that."

"Still don't see why you were so strict about what music was played, Prowler." Jazz told him.

"Because I am tired of being the one who gets beamed with a wrench every time you do something to upset my carrier, Jazz." Prowl retorted. He was worried that he was going to end up with a permanent processor ache from what his carrier did.

Ratchet chuckled. "Do not worry, Prowl. Once the twins are born, that won't happen."

"In any case, congratulations, Carrier. Optimus." Prowl told them.

"Thank you, Prowl." Optimus replied sincerely.

"Hey, Optimus! Ratchet!"

The two mechs were stunned to hear an all too familiar voice and looked down to see that Sam Witwicky was at their feet with his girlfriend, Mikaela, standing right beside him. The two humans had their arms linked and each had a glass of champagne in their hand.

"Samuel. Mikaela. I was not aware that you would be in attendance." Optimus said with a smile. He was glad that the two humans they had befriended first upon arriving on the planet and to whom they had looked to with such great fondness.

Bumblebee then reached down and picked the two up so it wouldn't be such a strain for them to talk.

"Once Bee told us about this, there was no way that we were going to miss out. It's great that you two are, uh-" Sam lost the word that Bumblebee had told them.

"Bonding, Sam." Bumblebee reminded him gently.

"Right. Bonding." Sam knew of Ratchet's hatred of simplifying things to the human level and of putting things into human terms, so the human didn't want to do that here.

"Thank you, Sam. We do appreciate this." Ratchet told him. While the medic would never admit it, he was glad that the two were there. He did hold a particular fondness for the two who had discovered them at such a young age. Granted, he'd never admit that.

"I'd just like to know why we weren't told right off you were going to have children together." Mikaela added.

"I apologize, Mikaela. With four sparked mechs on base, there has been quite a bit going on." Optimus replied.

Sam grinned. "Such as, I don't know, fleeing."

Optimus groaned before looking at the scout. "You told them about that."

"In my defense, I told them before you gave in." Bumblebee stated, grinning the entire time.

"Funny videos he sent us, too." Mikaela added.

Ratchet glared at the yellow mech. "Videos?"

"Before the mating cycle ended and you ordered all video deleted, Ratchet." Bumblebee told him quickly. "It's been erased. I promise."

"Good." Ratchet replied.

"How long are you two to remain on base?" Optimus asked.

"We'll be here about a week." Sam said.

"Good. We will be able to see more of you then." Optimus stated.

"Yeah. You will." Sam agreed.

Ratchet and Optimus then moved on to speak to others that were in attendance at the celebration.

Elita made her way over to them. "Well, I'm glad that I'm finally going to have another brother-in-law. Wasn't sure that would ever happen."

"Oh, can it, Elita. I don't see you doing that." Ratchet retorted.

"True, but I'm not near as old as you are, Ratchet." Elita then smirked. "Enjoy tonight." She got away before either could say anything.

Ratchet growled.

Optimus tightened his arm around his mate. "Calm down, Ratchet. You realize that most of the bots on base are going to say that. Along with a few humans." He chuckled. "And they're not wrong."

"I know, Orion, but I do not wish to be constantly reminded of that fact. It's no bot's business but ours." Ratchet retorted.

Optimus supposed that that was true, and he knew that it would be better for him not to say much more on the better with Ratchet.

"Hey, Optimus. Ratchet."

The two mechs turned to see Lennox and his wife, Sarah, standing on a high platform so that they were easier heard by the two mechs in question.

"Congratulations, you two." Lennox told them sincerely. He was glad that the two had found love in each other.

Sarah smiled. "I suppose it would be much better for the sparklings if you two were, uh-"

"Bonded, Sarah." Ratchet supplied.

"Right. Bonded." Sarah agreed.

"Yes. It is much better for the sparklings to be raised when their creators are bonded. But it is not unheard of for two bots to have a sparklings outside of a bond and raise the sparklings to be as normal and healthy as any other sparkling. It is certainly a positive when the creators are bonded, though." Ratchet stated.

"Still, I think that a lot of congratulations are in order for you two." Lennox said.

"Thank you, Colonel Lennox. We do appreciate it." Optimus told him.

Ratchet and Optimus were then approached by Ironhide and Chromia.

Ironhide grinned. "So, finally deciding to settle down, Hatchet. Honestly wasn't sure that you'd manage somethin' like that."

Ratchet glared at the Weapon's Specialist. "Do not call me Hatchet, Ironhide. And just because I never showed interest in anybot does not mean I never intended to settle down. I just never found that one until now."

"Or realized it." Chromia stated.

Ratchet's glare shifted to the femme.

Chromia smiled. "Regardless, we're glad that you two are going to bond."

"Thank you, Chromia. We appreciate it." Optimus stated.

Chromia smiled. "Good luck tonight."

Both Optimus and Ratchet could tell that Chromia was being sincere in her statement and that she truly hope their bond was formed without problems.

Ironhide grinned. "Yeah. Have fun."

Ratchet internally growled. He would rip Ironhide a new one before all of this was over with and blame it on the imbalance that occurred with carrying.

"Ratchet, stay calm." Optimus told his lover once Ironhide and Chromia had walked off.

"I'm trying, Orion. My patience is wearing thin, though." Ratchet stated.

"I know. I know." Optimus replied. He knew his soon-to-be mate was going to snap soon, and he really didn't want that to happen.

Ratchet and Optimus continued to walk around the room and speak to the other mechs and femmes that were there along with the humans that were there as well. There were those that were truly wishing them well while there were others who were discreetly teasing them for their activities that night.

Ratchet was reaching the end of his patience and would be glad when they were able to escape from this party. He was not a party mech, and he rarely attended parties, even when they were ones for him. He would be glad when he and Optimus could finally return to their quarters and get away from this.

* * *

><p>Ratchet moaned as Optimus pressed his lips to the medic's while the Prime's much larger and heavier frame pressed Ratchet up against the wall of their quarters, pinning him there.<p>

The first chance that Optimus had seen for them to get away from the party had been the one he had taken. Partly because he wanted to get out of there before Ratchet killed somebot and partly because the Prime wanted to get back to their quarters so that they could end this night the way it was supposed to end.

Optimus broke the kiss and kissed over Ratchet's face before making his way to the medic's neck cables. He licked at them a moment, enjoying the sound that Ratchet made at the action.

"Perfect time to get away." Ratchet murmured.

"Hmm. That was the point." Optimus nipped lightly at the cables. "Besides, I couldn't wait to get you alone." He wrapped his arms around the medic before lifting Ratchet up into his arms. The Prime could tell that Ratchet's frame had gained some weight from the protoforms that were starting to form, but it wasn't enough to affect the Prime. He still easily managed the medic's weight. He carried his mate back to the berth room and gently set Ratchet down on the berth before he climbed on the berth as well, moving to straddle his mate's waist. The Prime then leaned down and picked right back up where he left off, licked at Ratchet's neck cables.

Ratchet released a moan. "Our new paintjobs are going to be ruined by morning, aren't they?"

Optimus chuckled against Ratchet's neck. "Of course they are. That's the point of the bonding night." He then slid on down Ratchet's frame, pressing his lips and dragging his glossa over Ratchet's chest plates, slipping his glossa down the seam where the chest plates parted.

Ratchet gasped and arched up against the red and blue mech at the sensation. "Primus, Orion!"

Optimus snickered at the reaction. "Patience, Ratchet. We'll get to that. Eventually."

Ratchet released a groan. "Tease."

Optimus grinned even as he slid a hand down Ratchet's frame. "Perhaps but," his fingers reached the medic's interfacing panel, which was already getting hot, "you love me for it."

"You-" Ratchet didn't manage to finish his statement as he felt Optimus's fingers trail over his panel, drawing a surprised gasp out of him.

Optimus smirked even as he trailed on down Ratchet's frame, placing himself between the medic's legs. He then leaned forward and licked at the panel. He loved the squeak that escape from the chartreuse mech. He licked at the panel once again, urging Ratchet to retract the panel.

As much as Ratchet didn't want to give in so quickly, he had gotten rather revved up already, considering he had the mental images and the memory files of what was to come already driving him to even greater arousal. The medic allowed his panel to retract and revealed his already lubricating valve.

Optimus immediately leaned forward and licked at the rim of the valve, tasting his mate's lubricants. He slid his glossa further into the valve, enjoying the way the valve clamped down around his glossa.

Ratchet gasped and arched up again his mate only to have the Prime grab his hips and hold him down against the berth, preventing any further movement from the medic. Ratchet released a whine of protest.

"Oh, don't worry, Ratchet. You'll get what you want soon enough." Optimus murmured before he went back to pleasuring the medic, lapping at the lubricant that was dripping from the medic's valve. He enjoyed every gasp, moan, and jerk of his frame that escaped from the medic. It was enough to spike Optimus's own arousal. Granted, it didn't take much with this mech to get the Prime's systems heated. He moved one hand from one of Ratchet's hips and slid a finger inside of the medic's valve alongside his glossa.

Ratchet gasped as he reached down and grasped Optimus's helm in his hands. "Primus, Orion! Please!"

Optimus started to thrust his finger in and out of Ratchet's valve, feeling the valve clench around his finger and glossa. He loved the way the valve became so tight around them. It made him want to go ahead and slam his spike into that wet, tight valve.

Ratchet had retained enough processing power to tease Optimus by slowly stroking his fingers over the Prime's finials, which Ratchet knew from experience were very sensitive and a good place to touch when wanting to get him aroused.

Optimus gasped against Ratchet's valve at the sudden rush of pleasure that went through him at the action. He hadn't expected that and was shocked.

"Payback's a bitch." Ratchet managed.

Optimus pulled his glossa and his finger out of the medic's valve before he moved so that he could press his lips against Ratchet's, easily forcing his glossa into the chartreuse medic's mouth.

Ratchet groaned as he gave another playful stroke to the red and blue mech's finials.

Optimus moaned into the kiss at the action before he pulled away from his mate. "That was low."

Ratchet smirked. "And since when have I ever played fair in the berth?"

"Point taken." Optimus murmured before he leaned back down and pressed his lips to Ratchet's once more. As he did so, he allowed his interfacing panel to retract, and his spike extended from its housing.

Ratchet shivered as he heard the sound, and he wrapped his legs around the Prime's waist.

Optimus pressed the tip of his spike against Ratchet's valve before he pressed inside of his mate slowly, enjoying the feel of the valve around his spike. He knew that he would never get tired of this feeling.

Ratchet grasped at the Prime's shoulder, putting dents into his shoulders at the feel of the spike filling him. "Orion!" Ratchet loved the way his valve stretched out around the spike.

Optimus leaned down and pressed his lips to Ratchet's throat as he sank all the way into the tight valve. He remained still for a time to let Ratchet adjust to him.

Ratchet had other ideas. He rolled his hips, drawing a gasp of surprise from the Prime. "Please, Orion!"

Optimus released a growl as he pulled out of the medic before he thrust back inside of him gently, enjoying the sounds that Ratchet made at the action.

Ratchet released a gasp at each thrust of the Prime's hips. He enjoyed the way the Prime felt, but this slow, gentle pace was hardly enough for him. He couldn't stop the whine that escaped him. "Orion!"

Optimus smirked, knowing exactly what it was that Ratchet wanted as he leaned down and licked at the cables in Ratchet's neck. "Please, what?"

Ratchet whimpered as his fingers dug further into the Prime's shoulders. "Orion! Please! More!"

Optimus smirked as he heard the desperate sound in Ratchet's voice. "As you wish." He started to thrust faster into his mate, grabbing Ratchet's hands and pinning them down to the berth.

Ratchet cried out at the sudden increase in pace as he arched up against the Prime, tightening his legs around the Prime's waist.

Optimus growled as he felt Ratchet's valve spasm around his spike. He pounded even harder into Ratchet as he opened his chest plates to reveal his swirling blue spark. "Bond with me."

Ratchet understood the words and opened his own chest plates, revealing his own deep blue spark.

The Prime then leaned down enough that their sparks merged.

Both mechs released cries of pleasure as their sparks merged once more, and both mechs had already dropped all of their firewalls so that the bond could form. Both felt the bond beginning to form, felt the other's emotions, and started to see the other's memories.

Ratchet could see the younglinghood of the Prime, he could see how loved and cared for he was by his creators, he could see Optimus's early days of being an archivist in the Hall of Records in Iacon, and Ratchet could see when Optimus became Prime that he held doubts about what he would be able to do. The medic could see how the Prime grew into his role and how he became the great commander that he was now. He could also see that Optimus had been attracted to him since the first moment the Prime had laid optics on the medic.

Likewise, Optimus could see how Ratchet was raised alongside Wheeljack and then Elita. He could see how irritated Ratchet was when he and Wheeljack attended the Praxus Medical-Science Academy and Wheeljack started with his explosions. He saw how Ratchet had progressed in his studies and ended up meeting Driftstream. He saw how Driftstream reacted when Ratchet ended up sparked, and he saw the struggles that Ratchet had gone through when raising Prowl and Smokescreen alone. He also saw how Ratchet had developed an attraction for the Prime over time.

Both reached the end of their rope and overloaded at the same time. Ratchet gasped as he felt his valve flooded with his mate's fluids while Optimus groaned at how tight the valve became.

Optimus barely stopped himself from collapsing on top of the medic. He didn't want to harm the sparklings by letting his full weight fall on top of the medic. Instead, the Prime pulled out of the medic and collapsed beside him.

The two slowly recovered from their overloads and from the feel of the bond forming and seeing the other's memories.

Optimus felt a content smile cross his lips before he turned over and reached over to the pull medic in his arms, kissing his neck. "Hmm. Glad that I can feel you now."

"Same here." Ratchet replied.

Optimus gently nuzzled the back of Ratchet's neck before realizing something. He could now feel Ratchet clearly in his spark, but there were three other presences in his spark. "Ratchet, why are there three other presences in my spark?"

Ratchet chuckled before turning to face his new mate. "That would be the sparklings. Now that we're bonded, your bond with them will start forming. Given time, you'll be able to feel their presence as clearly as I do."

Optimus was surprised, but glad. "So, they can feel me as well?"

"Of course. Having the bond with them already will mean that they will recognize you immediately as their sire when they are born." Ratchet told him.

Optimus was glad to hear that. He would be glad when he could feel them more clearly. "You know, I'm starting to be thankful that you went into that mating cycle. I'm not sure that I would have ever had the courage to tell you how I felt otherwise."

Ratchet laughed. "Never thought I'd hear that one." He smiled at his mate. "Though I have to admit that I'm glad I had that mating cycle as well."

Optimus leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Ratchet's lips. "Another round?"

"After some recharge." Ratchet replied.

Optimus nodded in agreement as he pulled the medic closer to him. "And if Ironhide asks, I set up something incredibly romantic and made it a rather special night with what I did."

Ratchet raised up to look at him, his raised optic ridge a clear question of what he meant.

"Ironhide was talking to me earlier and wouldn't stop asking how I would make it special. I just told him I had done something to get him off my back. If he asks, it was incredibly romantic and incredibly special." Optimus explained.

"Sure thing." Ratchet then rested his helm on the Prime's chest and offlined his optics, slowly falling into recharge in his mate's arms.

Optimus lay there with his mate, gently stroking Ratchet's back as he held his mate. The Prime was glad that he finally had everything he ever wanted. The Prime slowly joined his mate in recharge.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought!<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

Thanks for all the support!

**THERE IS A RATHER GRAPHIC BIRTH SCENE IN THIS CHAPTER! DON'T READ IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT!**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 15<p>

Ratchet walked at a rather leisurely pace toward his mate's office. He knew that his mate hadn't had any energon since they had shared energon that morning before Optimus had to go to his office, so Ratchet had decided that he would take energon to his mate before his mate's systems crashed on him because of lack of fuel.

Ratchet entered the large building, large by human standards, anyway, and headed down the hallway toward his mate's office.

As Ratchet walked past Prowl's office, he heard the unmistakenable sound of two bots interfacing. He shook his helm as this happened quite often when Jazz wasn't sparked. It happened even more when Jazz was sparked.

Ratchet made his way to the office at the end of the hall and simply entered the room, not bothering to knock as he knew that his mate was alone in the office, which meant there was no need to knock. He noticed that Optimus was hunched over his desk, intently looking at the datapad that was in front of him and making marks on the datapad with the stylus that was in his hand every so often.

The Prime was so focused on the datapad that he didn't notice his mate's presence in the room. Instead, he kept the entirety of his focus on the datapad he had in front of him. He hated human bureaucracy because it really did nothing. Not fast. Decisions that took months to contemplate took only a few weeks by Cybertronian standards. He became distracted by a cube of energon being thrust into his line of vision. He looked up into his mate's face plates.

"You have not had any energon since this morning, Orion. I know your work is important, but so is your heath, so take a few moments and refuel." Ratchet ordered.

Optimus knew better than to argue with Ratchet. Not just because the CMO was his mate, but because he knew that one never crossed Ratchet when your health was concerned. He took the cube of energon from the medic and started to sip at it. "What about you?"

Ratchet smiled before pulling the cube of medical grade from his subspace. "Right here." He also started to drink it. He leaned against the desk. "I'm assuming the usual political nonsense you have to deal with."

Optimus groaned. "Yes. And I hate it with a passion." He shook his helm. "I just don't understand how this has worked for them."

"Humans are a confusing species, Orion. I have stopped trying to understand how their minds work because it is completely illogical to me." Ratchet chuckled. "It's a wonder they haven't caused Prowl's processors to crash on him yet."

"Agreed." Optimus murmured. He looked at Ratchet. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Just a little stir crazy from having nothing to do." Ratchet smiled. "I do know that Bluestreak and Smokescreen are both at the point they could go into labor at any time. We'll have four of the sparklings here soon."

Optimus smiled. "That's good." He was concerned on one point, though. "Are you going to be all right delivering them?"

"Of course I will. I might be sparked, but I have my wits about me." Ratchet chuckled. "I believe that Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Hot Shot are the ones who are in trouble while they are in labor. Bots are known for uttering numerous curses and threats to the lives of their mates while in labor. I have heard them threaten things that I wouldn't even threaten to one who pissed me off." He smirked. "Though I can't say I won't say them to you when I'm in labor."

"Well, the good point is that you will not mean them." Optimus replied.

"True. I'll need to forewarn those three of that. Prowl should remember it well." Ratchet snickered. "Primus knows Jazz threw every curse in every language he knew at Prowl when he was in labor with Bluestreak. Prowl was terrified, despite the fact I had forewarned him."

"I suppose I need to remember that." Optimus mused.

"Yes. Especially since I'll be delivering three of them." Ratchet agreed. He then froze a moment before he set his cube of energon aside and reached over to grab Optimus's hand before he placed the Prime's hand beneath his armor over the top portion of his abdominal plating on his protoform.

"Ratchet, what-" Optimus started.

"Give it a klik." Ratchet told him.

Optimus waited a moment and then felt something hit his hand. He was a bit startled by that until he felt it again and realized that that was their sparklings kicking! "That's-" Optimus breathed.

"Yes. It is." Ratchet had a smile on his face plates. "They're becoming a lot more active, Orion."

Optimus hadn't even considered the fact that he would be able to feel them kicking when they were active. It was an incredible sensation. "Hello there little ones. I'm your sire."

Ratchet smiled at that. He knew that while the sparklings could hear their sire's voice, they didn't understand what he was saying. But it was good for them to hear Optimus's voice as it would mean that they would recognize his voice once they were born.

* * *

><p>Bluestreak released a loud groan. "I can't take much more of this! When are they going to come already!" the grey Praxian stayed tired, and he had so much weight added to him that it was difficult for him to get up without assistance.<p>

"Come on, Blue. You heard Ratchet and First Aid. It'll be any time now." Sideswipe tried to cheer his mate up.

Bluestreak glared at his red and black mate. "I know what they said, Sideswipe! I was there! Don't treat me like I'm ignorant or an idiot!"

Sideswipe jumped and instantly cowered behind his brother.

:Keep your mouth shut, Sides.: Sunstreaker told his brother over their twin bond. :You know he's going to snap at anything you say.:

:But-but if it's this bad now, how bad will it be when he's in labor?: Sideswipe asked.

:I don't know. We'll find out.: Sunstreaker replied.

Bluestreak glared. "Stop using that fragging twin bond of yours!"

The two jumped before nodding their helms in a quickly affirmative. They were beginning to hope that their creations decided to come rather quickly, too, since that would mean Bluestreak wouldn't snap at them so much.

Bluestreak was irritated with his two mates at how they acted. He still wondered if they would be able to rise to the occasion when their sparklings did arrive. He hoped that his grand-carrier was right that his mates would be good sires to their sparklings.

"So, uh, Blue, is there anything that you need?" Sideswipe asked, hoping to alleviate some of his mate's anger.

Bluestreak glanced at his red mate before deciding that there wasn't really anything he needed. "No, Sideswipe." He rubbed his abdominal plating. "Just wish that these two would decide to come already."

Sunstreaker strutted over and sat down beside his mate. "I'm sure that they'll come soon, Blue." He then smirked. "I just think it would be funny if you and Smokescreen went into labor at the same time."

Sideswipe snickered. "Or one of you delivered and then the other one went into labor right then."

"As long as I'm the one that goes first." Bluestreak muttered. He shook his helm. "Although that probably wouldn't be good on Grand-Carrier. He is sparked himself and doesn't need that much stress."

"True, but I'm sure that Ratchet knows something like that could happen." Sunstreaker told him.

Bluestreak decided that he needed to lay down a while. "Sideswipe, can you help me up?"

Sideswipe walked over and took one of Bluestreak's arms before he wrapped an arm around his waist and helped his mate up to his feet.

"Thanks." Bluestreak winced at a particularly hard kick to his tanks.

"You okay?" Sideswipe asked.

"Yeah. They're just active right now." Bluestreak replied.

Sideswipe nodded.

Bluestreak started to go into their berth room to lie down for a while, but he doubled over as a sharp pain hit him.

"BLUESTREAK!" Sunstreaker and Sideswipe jumped up and raced over to their mate.

"What's wrong, Blue?" Sideswipe asked, trying to contain his panic. And failing.

Bluestreak in-vented and then ex-vented roughly. "I-I think we need to get to the infirmary. And you'd better comm Grand-Carrier."

"They're coming?" Sideswipe's panic level shot sky high.

Sunstreaker was already on top of things. He reached down and easily picked his mate up in his arms, figuring that Bluestreak would be in far too much pain to walk. "Come on, Sideswipe." Sunstreaker's voice was calm and collected as he headed for the door.

Sideswipe followed, glad his twin knew what needed to be done.

:_Ratchet?_: Sunstreaker hoped that Ratchet answered the comm immediately.

:_What is it, Sunstreaker?_: Ratchet asked.

:_Ratchet, I think that Bluestreak's in labor. We're heading to the infirmary now._: Sunstreaker told him.

:_Take him and put him in private room B. I'm on my way._: Ratchet told him.

Sunstreaker then cut the link. He walked as fast as he could without jostling Bluestreak, knowing that his mate was probably in enough pain as it was. If the pain pouring through their bond was any indication.

First Aid had already been informed of the situation when Sunstreaker walked in with Bluestreak in his arms and Sideswipe following close behind. The young medic pointed to the room that Ratchet had told him to put Bluestreak in.

Sunstreaker walked right into the room and placed Bluestreak on the berth.

Another painful contraction wracked Bluestreak's frame as a pained keen escaped the grey Praxian, startling his two mates.

First Aid had already brought a few instruments that he hoped were not needed while Bluestreak gave birth.

"Where is Ratchet?" Sideswipe hated seeing his mate in this much pain and wondered where Ratchet was at a time like this.

"Right here." Ratchet walked into the room swiftly and walked over to Bluestreak's side, shoving Sideswipe out of his way unceremoniously. He ignored Sideswipe's cry of protest and focused on his grand-creation. "Bluestreak, I need you to open your chest plates."

Bluestreak did as he was told, parting his chest plates for his grand-carrier.

Ratchet could easily see that one of the sparklings had already torn a hole in one of the sacs, and the other sparkling was trying to do the same. It was definitely time. "The sparklings are making their way out of the sacs. I'm afraid it'll be a little while before you're ready to deliver them."

"Is that—normal?" Sideswipe asked worriedly.

"Very." Ratchet was patient with Sideswipe because he knew that first time sires were overly worried and didn't know much about what was going on. "I can't judge for certain how long it will take for them to be ready to deliver. Each birth can be very different."

Bluestreak whimpered at another painful contraction.

"Can you give him something for the pain?" Sunstreaker asked.

"No. Delivery is much easier if no painkillers have been administered. Only in the cases where the sparklings need to be cut out are painkillers used. And I see no reason why that will need to be used in this case." Ratchet looked at Bluestreak. "Just breath like I've told you, and we practiced. It'll help. Above all, stay calm. You're going to be fine."

Bluestreak nodded.

Ratchet glanced at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. "Come with me a moment."

The two followed Ratchet out of the room.

Ratchet turned to them. "As the labor goes on, he's going to be in a lot more pain." At their panicked expression, he continued. "It's normal and expected. Nothing is wrong. My point is that most carriers in labor start shouting threatening obscenities at their mates. Bluestreak may say any number of curses or throw threats at you. Just take them and ignore them. He doesn't mean them."

"Anything else?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Don't let your panicked feelings through your bond. Bluestreak is apprehensive enough as it is. He'll be fine. Just keep him calm." Ratchet answered.

The two nodded.

"Good. When he's delivering, you two stay at his side and hold his hands. I'll probably be repairing your crushed hands, but please, **DO NOT **say anything about how much it hurts. Trust me. That pain cannot compare to the pain that he's in. And stay at his head while he's delivering." Ratchet stated.

"Yeah. You work at the other end." Sunstreaker stated.

"Yes, I do." Ratchet smiled. "This isn't the first time I've delivered a sparkling. All three of them are going to be fine."

The two nodded before beading back into the room.

:**Orion.**:

:**Yes, Ratchet. Are you all right?**: Optimus sounded a bit worried.

:**I'm fine. I thought I'd let you know that Bluestreak is in labor, so I'll be occupied for a bit.**: Ratchet answered.

:**All right, Ratchet. I hope everything goes well.**: Optimus replied.

:**As do I.**: Ratchet then closed the bond and walked back into the examination room to find that First Aid had already gotten blanket to cover Bluestreak from his waist down.

"Bluestreak, if you want your creators to come-" Ratchet started.

"Yes." Bluestreak didn't even have to think about it. He knew without a doubt that he wanted his creators here at this moment.

Ratchet nodded.

* * *

><p>"That was fun." Jazz was sitting on the edge of Prowl's desk in front of the Cybertronian computer terminal that Prowl used with a smug, satisfied smirk on his face plates.<p>

Prowl sighed. "I'm still not sure if your insane drive to interface while sparked is a good thing or a bad thing."

"Why would it be bad?" Jazz asked curiously.

"Because of the amount of work I don't get gone because I'm too busy interfacing with you." Prowl pulled Jazz closed and kissed him. "Though I have to admit that it is rather fun."

Jazz wrapped his arms around Prowl's neck and kissed him again. "Want to go again?"

"Jazz-" Prowl was interrupted by a message from his carrier. :_What is it, Carrier?_:

:_Prowl, Bluestreak is in labor._: Ratchet told him.

:_He's what!_: Prowl was shocked.

:_Calm down. It's early labor. He probably won't be ready to deliver for a few joor at least. He would like you and Jazz to come here. I think it may help keep him calm while we're waiting._: Ratchet told him.

:_We'll be right there._: Prowl assured him. He cut the link with his carrier and looked at his mate. "Sorry, Jazz, but interfacing will have to wait. Bluestreak is in the infirmary in labor."

Jazz's visor brightened in shock before he smiled. "Sounds like we're gonna be grand-creators soon."

"Well, Bluestreak isn't going to be delivering for a few joor, and he's asked us to come see him. I think we should." Prowl said.

"Let's go." Jazz hopped off the desk and headed out.

Prowl followed and stated, "We should let Optimus know."

Jazz nodded.

Prowl stopped at the Prime's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Prowl." Optimus said.

The door opened, and the Praxian entered the room.

"How didja know it was Prowler?" Jazz asked.

"Because Prowl's one of the few that knocks, and he only knocks on the door once." Optimus answered as he looked up. He smiled. "Ratchet told me about Bluestreak."

"Yes. That's why we're here. Bluestreak wants to see us, so we'll be in the infirmary." Prowl told him.

Optimus waved him off. "Go on, Prowl. I'll see if my sire can give me a hand with everything." He knew that they probably would want to be close by when Bluestreak delivered as he was certain Ratchet's creators and his own creators would be.

Prowl and Jazz quickly headed out of the Prime's office and went straight to the infirmary to see their son.

Ratchet was out in the infirmary when they came in. He merely pointed at examination room B.

Jazz went right in.

"How is he, Carrier?" Prowl asked.

"He's fine, Prowl. A little scared, but that's usual the first time. Things are progressing as they should. It just may be a bit before he's ready to deliver."

Prowl nodded before he walked into the infirmary to find that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were cowering in a corner. He raised an optic ridge before he looked over at Bluestreak, who was currently holding Jazz's hand and rambling so much that Prowl wasn't able to understand what he was saying. He walked over on the other side of Bluestreak and gently placed a hand on Bluestreak's doorwing. "How are you doing?"

"It hurts, Sire." Bluestreak whimpered. "And it's only going to get worse."

Jazz gently rubbed Bluestreak's abdominal plating. "I know it does, Blue. Trust me. I've been where you are. It does hurt like the Pit." Jazz smiled. "But you'll forget all about the pain when you see those little ones. I know I did when I saw you. It's worth it in the end, Blue."

Bluestreak smiled at his carrier, hoping that he was right.

Prowl glanced at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, wondering what kind of threats Bluestreak had already threw at them to make them this terrified of the usually gentle grey mech.

* * *

><p>"I swear I am going to rip your sparks out for this!" Bluestreak shouted at his mates, growling and glaring at them with a look that made Ratchet proud.<p>

Sideswipe barely held in his whimper of fear at Bluestreak's threat and his glare. The red and black mech had never seen his mate look this angry. And it scared him.

Sunstreaker didn't act like the comment bothered him, but it did startle him. He had always questioned if Bluestreak was really related to Ratchet considering the fact that the vain, yellow front liner had never seen Bluestreak utter any threats or glare like him. Now, he saw that Bluestreak truly was Ratchet's grand-creation. Those were threats and glares worthy of him.

Ratchet smirked to himself. Oh, he was extremely proud of Bluestreak's threats to his mates and of the glares. He was glad to see that Bluestreak had picked up a few traits from him. He then walked to the side of Bluestreak and saw that one of the sparklings was almost into the birthing canal and the other was almost completely out of the sac. "All right, Bluestreak. I need to check to see if you've dilated enough."

Bluestreak nodded, glad for the warning.

Ratchet then moved the blanket up to Bluestreak's knees and easily slid his fingers into the Praxian's valve. He saw that Bluestreak was ready. He pulled out his fingers. "Bluestreak, you're ready to push now."

Bluestreak nodded, glad that he was near the end of this.

Ratchet pushed his grand-creation's legs up so that his knees were bent and pushed them apart. "Bluestreak, whenever I tell you to push, I want you to push as hard as you can. I know that this is going to hurt a lot, but you've got to do it."

Bluestreak nodded. He hadn't thought it could get any worse than it already was. But apparently it would. He held onto his mates' hands tightly.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were both gently stroking Bluestreak's doorwings in a comforting manner, hoping to calm their mate. They were fearful of saying anything as they knew that Bluestreak might decide offlining them was a good idea.

"Bluestreak, on the next contraction, I want you to push as hard as you can." Ratchet told him.

Bluestreak nodded. He then felt another painful contraction hit him, and he pushed as hard as he could, feeling like his insides were being ripped apart by the painful movements of the sparklings. He released a loud keen as his hands tightened painfully around his mates' hands.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker barely held in their grimaces, but followed Ratchet's advice and didn't utter a word in response to it.

First Aid glanced into Bluestreak's chest plates and noticed something. :_Ratchet, the other sparkling is about to enter the birthing canal as well._:

:_That means he won't have any rest between them. It also means that this will be over much sooner for Bluestreak._: Ratchet replied. He ran a scan on Bluestreak. :_Keep your sensors on the other sparkling._:

:_Yes, sir._: First Aid replied.

"All right, Bluestreak. Stop." Ratchet said.

Bluestreak did so, panting as he did so. Primus! He had heard that this was painful, but this was worse than any wound he had ever received while in a battle.

"Easy, Bluestreak. You're doing fine." Sunstreaker said.

"Shut up! This is all your fault!" Bluestreak growled at the yellow mech.

"Um, Blue. It was a Praxian mating cycle." Sideswipe reminded him.

Ratchet shook his helm as he heard the unmistakenable sound of a fist colliding with a face followed by Sideswipe's yelp of pain and a crash when Sideswipe hit the floor.

"Shut up, Sideswipe! You're not the ones whose insides are being torn to shreds!" Bluestreak snarled at him.

Ratchet glanced at the downed red and black front-liner with a noticeable dent in his face. He had warned him, after all. "Bluestreak, push."

Bluestreak did as ordered, squeezing Sunstreaker's hand so hard that his fingers were dented.

Sunstreaker winced and realized that Ratchet was going to have to do a lot of repair work to his hand.

:_Ratchet, the other sparkling is in the birthing canal._: First Aid informed him.

:_All right._: Ratchet looked at his grand-creation. "Bluestreak, I need you to push as hard as you can."  
>Bluestreak easily discerned the concern in his grand-carriers voice. "What's wrong?"<p>

Sunstreaker looked at him hurriedly, and Sideswipe pulled himself up to look at Ratchet, also worried.

"Nothing is wrong. The other sparkling has already entered the birthing canal as well. You're going to need to push even harder." Ratchet figured telling him it would be more painful would not be good for Bluestreak.

Bluestreak did as told, pushing even harder. He released a loud cry as he felt the helm crown.

"Keep pushing, Bluestreak." Ratchet told him.

Bluestreak did so. And cried out in pain.

Once the helm emerged, Ratchet placed one hand under it, knowing that the sparkling would be here soon. Another hard push, and nothing.

Ratchet had a sneaking suspicion he knew why. "First Aid, come here."

"What!" Sunstreaker and Sideswipe immediately demanded since Bluestreak was in too pain to ask.

Ratchet answered by telling First Aid. "I have a feeling this sparkling inherited the Praxian doorwings. It makes delivery more difficult. I need you to gently slip your fingers into the valve and stretch it out as gently as you can."

First Aid nodded.

Ratchet then glanced at the other three. "Relax. It'll be fine."

First Aid did as he was asked and gently slipped a finger into each side of Bluestreak's valve, being careful of the sparkling's helm as he stretched the valve out a bit more.

"Bluestreak, push." Ratchet told him.

Bluestreak did as he was told and pushed. Hard.

As Ratchet suspected, the sparkling quickly emerged. He quickly used a cloth to clean the mechling up, and the sparkling immediately cried out, loud, with its intakes clear.

Bluestreak felt relieved when he heard the cry.

First Aid removed his fingers and took the sparkling from Ratchet to check out its systems and make sure everything was all right.

Bluestreak wanted his sparkling.

"Bluestreak, I know you want to see him, but you have to focus on delivering the other sparkling at the moment." Ratchet told him. He glanced over at Sideswipe. "Go and calm the sparkling down. It'll recognize you as its sire from your time being so close to Bluestreak."

Sideswipe nodded and immediately went over to his sparkling, trying to calm the sparkling.

"Bluestreak, I need you to push." Ratchet told him.

Bluestreak nodded and did as he was told, pushing as hard as he could.

Sunstreaker hoped that everything was going to be all right. He was concerned for his mate and for their sparklings.

The newborn sparkling had calmed down when Sideswipe was close to it. The sparkling immediately reached for him.

First Aid determined that the sparkling was completely healthy and handed the sparkling over to Sideswipe.

Sideswipe cradled the sparkling in his arms and noticed that the sparkling curled up against his chest plates. He smiled as he looked down at their sparkling, already feeling protective of their newborn son.

Once the helm of the second sparkling was visible, Ratchet cradled the helm gently. "Bluestreak, push as hard as you can. You're almost there."

Bluestreak did as he was told, pushing as hard as he could and praying that this was the last time that he would have to push.

The rest of the sparkling's frame easily slipped out of the valve.

Ratchet quickly used another cloth to clear the sparkling's intakes, and a second loud cry filled the room.

Bluestreak felt his spark burst with joy at the fact that his sparklings were there and sounded like they were just fine. He then promptly collapsed on the berth.

First Aid came over and took the sparkling from Ratchet to examine the sparkling and ensure he was all right as well.

"Sunstreaker, go over to him. Please." Bluestreak begged.

Sunstreaker nodded as Bluestreak let go of Sunstreaker's hand and went over to his son.

Ratchet then proceeded to clear Bluestreak's gestation chamber of the remaining fluids and circuitry that remained. He also monitored Bluestreak's vitals and knew that with rest and energon, Bluestreak would be fine. "You'll need to take in only medical grade energon for a few more cycles and then you'll go back to regular grade."

Bluestreak nodded tiredly.

"I know you're tired, but you need to feed the sparklings before you get any recharge." Ratchet told him.

Bluestreak nodded.

Ratchet glanced over as he manual closed Bluestreak's valve cover. "Sideswipe, bring him over here."

Sideswipe did as told and brought the sparkling over before handing him to Bluestreak.

Bluestreak took the small sparkling. He noticed that the sparkling did have the small stubs that would grow into doorwings as he got older. He saw that the sparkling was yellow in color with headfins similar to Sunstreaker's and a red chevron like himself. He couldn't help but think that the sparkling was beautiful. He had kept his chest plates open, but he wasn't sure what to do.

Ratchet reached over. "It's fine, Bluestreak. The energon lines that are meant for feeding the sparklings have been active for at least two groon." He motioned to the small, metal nub at the center of his chest plates right near his spark chamber. "Put him close and he'll know what to do."

Bluestreak nodded as he shifted the sparkling so that he was near the nub.

The moment that the sparkling was close to the nub, he immediately latched on and started sucking on it.

"It's amazing that he can already do that." Sunstreaker remarked as he walked over with the other mechling in his arms. This mechling was grey in color with small lines of red going down its arms. This sparkling also had a red chevron, though no doorwings.

First Aid decided to leave as he no longer had a reason to be there.

"I'll give you a bit." Ratchet also left the room.

The three remained close together with their sparklings.

"So, what are we calling them?" Sunstreaker asked.

The three had discussed designations, but none of them seemed to fit the sparklings.

Bluestreak looked at the mechling in his arms and considered that. "How about Brightspark for this one?"

"Hey! That's a great designation!" Sideswipe was still a bit frightened of his mate.

"And this one?" Sunstreaker asked, looking at the one in his arms.

The three were silent for a moment as they thought about a name for the second sparkling.

Sunstreaker then thought of a name. "Jumpstreak."

"Jumpstreak?" Bluestreak repeated.

"Yeah." Sunstreaker replied.

Sideswipe smiled. "Great idea, Sunny. Nice way to honor him."

Bluestreak was outright confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Jumpstreak was our carrier. We had just entered our second vorn of adolescence when his spark rejoined the Well." Sunstreaker replied. He glanced down at the sparkling in his arms. "I just think that this is a good way to honor our carrier's memory."

Bluestreak smiled. "I think that that is a great idea, Sunny." He noticed that Brightspark had finished feeding so he handed the sparkling to Sideswipe before taking Jumpstreak from Sunstreaker and positioning him to feed as well.

It was nice for the three to finally have their sparklings with them.

And Bluestreak realized that his carrier was right. All that pain really was worth having them now.

* * *

><p>"Ooh! They are absolutely adorable!" Starlight squealed as she took Brightspark from Sunstreaker and cradled the sparkling in her arms.<p>

Seeing the joy in his creation, Jazz said, "Told ya it would all be worth it."

Bluestreak smiled back. "You were more than right. It was so worth it."

Jazz nodded his agreement before he looked down at Jumpstreak in his arms. "Hadn't actually thought I'd be a grand-creator this soon." He smirked. "Though it'll be fun to be able to spoil two."

"Hey!" Sunstreaker exclaimed.

"Sorry, Sunshine, but that's the joys of being a grand-creator. Ya get to spoil 'em and send 'em back to their creators." Jazz stated.

Prowl chuckled. "That's a never ending cycle that appears to transcend species. The humans do that as well." He smiled at his creation. "And my carrier did it with you. Our turn."

Bluestreak sighed, resigning himself to the fact that his creators were going to spoil his creations.

"Can't wait to see ours now." Smokescreen remarked.

"Yeah." Hot Shot glanced over. "Think either of ours will have doorwings?"

"It's possible." Smokescreen replied.

Swiftwind smiled. "Well, the first two great-great-grand-creations are here now."

"Yeah, and you're getting more grand-creations now." Smokescreen added.

"But Ratchet seems to be the only one of our creations that give us grand-creations." Starlight remarked.

"CARRIER!" Wheeljack and Elita exclaimed in horror.

From outside the room Bluestreak was in, Ratchet and Optimus stood back watching.

"So, will it be this crowded when you have ours?" Optimus asked.

"Afterwards, yes. All of them will pack in there plus four more sparklings in addition to your creators." Ratchet replied.

"Going to need a bigger room." Optimus muttered.

Ratchet chuckled. "You won't even care about that once they're here." He placed a hand against his chest when he felt a kick. "And at least they'll stop using my tanks as a punching bag."

Optimus chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be glad of that." He easily slid an arm around the medic's waist.

"Yes. I will. It's not fun having your tanks used like that. I should know. This is the second time." Ratchet muttered.

"Hmm. Well, as I heard Jazz state, it's worth it in the end." Optimus said.

"That it is." Ratchet agreed.

First Aid heard this exchanged and released a sigh. Well, one down and three to go.

* * *

><p>Drop a review and let me know what you thought!<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

**THERE IS A RATHER GRAPHIC BIRTH SCENE IN THIS CHAPTER! DON'T READ IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT!**

**Also, my family is planning to switch Internet providers, and it looks like we may not have Internet for a week or so. If I don't update, that's why. I'll keep writing and when we get the Internet back, I should be able to update then. Might be able to update all three of my stories.**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 16<p>

"All right. You can go back to your quarters now, Bluestreak. Just let me know if something doesn't feel right with your systems. Nothing is showing up now, but that could change. And don't do anything too strenuous until further notice." Ratchet told him.

Bluestreak nodded while holding Jumpstreak. "I won't, Grand-Carrier."

"Good. And if you have any questions regarding the sparklings, you know there are a number on base you can ask, including myself, your creators, and your great-grand-creators." Ratchet then shifted his optics to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. "Now, I have a few orders for you two."

The twins were surprised at that.

"Why do we get orders? We weren't the ones that carried and delivered them." Sideswipe protested.

"I can vouch for that." Bluestreak muttered. His back, his chest, his valve, and his tanks were all still sore from delivery. He would be glad when the soreness left his frame, which his grand-carrier had told him should be within the next few cycles.

"Because there are a few things that you two need to do, Sideswipe. First, you two have the next two breem off. Bluestreak still needs to recover, so you're going to have to help him. Second, any heavy lifting that needs to be done you two will have to do. Bluestreak can't do anything like that until further notice. Third, no interfacing." Ratchet stated.

"What!" The two were stunned at the last one.

Brightspark, who was in Sunstreaker's arms, started whimpering as the loud noise had startled him.

Ratchet glared. "And stop with the shouting and loud noises. Sparklings have sensitive audios, meaning that extremely loud or sudden noises scare them, so put a lid on it for a bit."

"But why no interfacing?" Sideswipe asked.

Ratchet was amazed that the red twin wasn't whining. "Quite simple. Bluestreak's systems need time to recover. Interfacing would hinder his recovery and possibly make his recovery harder. On top of that, Bluestreak's valve will be extremely tender and sensitive for a bit. Interfacing, regardless of how gentle you are, will cause extremely painful tears in the valve which could easily become infected, which would cause even more problems. Besides, his spark also needs time to heal from carrying and delivery."

The twin front liners nodded, realizing that Ratchet was right.

"Now, after two groon, Bluestreak can interface. He just can't be the submissive one." Ratchet said.

Bluestreak perked up at this. "So, I can as long as I'm not the one being spiked."

"It depends on you. By that time, your systems should be completely healed, and your spark should have healed a great deal. If you wish, you can. You just can't be the one that is being spiked. It won't matter who's in what place after four groon. By that time, your spark should be healed, so you could spark merge again after four groon." Ratchet finished.

The next two groon were going to kill Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. Bluestreak knew what kind of drive the two had, and he knew that two groon with no interfacing might kill them. The grey Praxian had to admit that he was rather looking forward to being the one on top after two groon. He rarely managed to convince them to let him be on top, Sunstreaker in particular. That would be fun.

"Just follow my orders." The CMO then glared at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, making the twins shiver. "And if you two even think about breaking the rules about interfacing, I promise you a pain that nothing will alleviate. Do I make myself clear?"

The two mechs nodded quickly, not wanting to be on the wrong end of Ratchet wrath considering the fact that he was currently sparked and might end up taking his anger and frustration out on them if they did not listen to what he said.

"Good. You can go to your quarters if you wish to. I suggest you take it easy for the next few breem, Bluestreak. You need the time and rest to recover." Ratchet sad.

"Okay, Grand-Carrier. Thank you for everything." The grey Praxian smiled at his grand-carrier. "And don't feel shy about coming by. I want them to get to know you."

Ratchet smiled at his grand-creation. "I can assure you that I will be seeing a great deal of them. Now go on."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker left with their mate and their creations to go back to their quarters. The twins intended to make sure Bluestreak rested so that their mate would recover and so that Ratchet didn't come after their helms for not taking care of their mate.

Ratchet smiled as he watched them go. He knew that Bluestreak still felt uneasy about how Sideswipe and Sunstreaker would do as sires, but Ratchet knew that they would be fine. He could already see that the twins were acting a bit more responsible and would most likely become even more responsible with time.

First Aid poked his head into the room to see that Ratchet was getting the room straightened up. "I can do that if you need to go and get some rest, Ratchet."

Ratchet turned to look at the young Protectobot medic. "First Aid, I may be sparked with triplets, but it does not mean that I cannot function. I can do this just fine."

First Aid appeared a bit embarrassed. "I know that, sir. I just have heard Bluestreak, Smokescreen, and Jazz talk about how carrying the sparklings in the later carrying period is a lot harder because of all the weight that is added to their frames from the sparklings. Since you're carrying three, I thought that it might be even harder for you. Just thought that you might need some rest."

Ratchet had to admit that First Aid made a good point. The sparklings did add a great deal of weight to the carrier's frame, and three made it even worse for the medic. "Well, that is true, First Aid. I do have a great deal of weight added, but I can handle doing this." He smiled. "I know Smokescreen is coming in for a check-up, but that's not for a few joor. I'm just going to clean up here and then I'll go back to my quarters to get some rest."

First Aid nodded. He had hoped that his mentor would go to get some rest because he knew that his mentor needed it. Besides, First Aid knew that with help from Perceptor, Jolt, and Swiftwind that he would be able to handle the infirmary without Ratchet's help.

* * *

><p>"Does this make you worried or scared?"<p>

Optimus looked up from the datapad that he had been reading over to look at his sire, who was sitting right across from him. "What are you talking about?"

"Seeing Brightspark and Jumpstreak. Does it make you worried or scared about what is to come for you?" Nemesis asked.

Optimus turned his focus away from the datapad as he answered. "Neither. Not really, Sire. I knew from the start that having sparklings with Ratchet wouldn't be easy, but I welcome the challenge." He smiled. "I'm looking forward to raising them. It'll be new and different for me, but at least Ratchet has raised sparklings before. He'll be able to help me out a great deal."

Nemesis nodded his helm in agreement. "I thought you'd be scared considering this is the first time for you."

"I suppose a little." Optimus admitted. He smiled. "Ratchet mentioned that most first-time creators were scared. I've already had one panic attack."

Nemesis was surprised as he hadn't heard about that. "When was this?"

"Right after we found out we were having triplets. Scared and overwhelmed would be an understatement to how I was feeling at the time. I've settled a great deal since then." Optimus chuckled. "Having a mate who has raised two sparklings before really helped me in this case."

Nemesis smiled. "I know how you feel. I felt that way when Alpha was carrying you. By the time he was at the point Ratchet is now, I'd had about ten panic attacks, though. Granted, I was much younger than you are now. Still, I was nervous and scared." The older Prime chuckled. "Suppose it all turned out all right in the end. My greatest fear was failing as a sire, and I think you turned out all right."

"I'd say so. I turned out fine. I don't think I could have had a better younglinghood." Optimus told his sire.

"I'm glad to hear that, Orion. And you'll end up being a better sire than you think. Trust me." Nemesis replied.

Optimus hoped that his sire was right.

* * *

><p>Ratchet had returned to his quarters with the intention of getting some rest before Smokescreen's appointment that afternoon. Unfortunately, the triplets had other ideas as they had chosen this time to be rather active. Ratchet lay on the berth on his back and placed a hand on his chest plates. "Is it too much to ask for you three to settle down?" A sharp kick answered him. "Apparently so." Ratchet reached over to the table set up by the berth and picked up the datapad he had been reading the night before. He turned it on and started to read it since it looked like he wouldn't be able to get a few joor of recharge like he had hoped.<p>

Ratchet had become so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't hear the sound of the door to his quarters opening nor did he hear the pedefalls as somebot walked toward the berth room.

Optimus peered into the berth room and noticed that Ratchet was reading the datapad he had been reading the night before. He smiled as he walked over and leaned down to kiss Ratchet on the cheek.

Ratchet was startled and turned to look at his mate. "Orion, when did you get here?"

"Just now. You were so engrossed in that story of yours that you didn't notice I had come in." Optimus faked a hurt look. "I'm hurt that a book means more than me."

Ratchet hit Optimus lightly on the arm. "Oh, stop it, Orion." He set the datapad aside for the time being. "What are you doing here, anyway? Don't you have work that you need to get done?"

"Do I have work I need to get done? Yes." Optimus sat down by Ratchet on the berth. "But I felt that coming to check on my mate was more important."

"I'm fine, Orion. I had intended to come and get some rest, but-" Ratchet was interrupted.

**CLANK!**

Ratchet sighed. "I suppose that answered why I can't rest."

"Active." Optimus smiled. "Maybe they'll let you recharge tonight since they're so active right now."

Ratchet snorted. "I have another bot to contend with who enjoys keeping me up at night."

Optimus chuckled. "I can't help that I can't keep my hands off of you." He wrapped his arms around Ratchet and pulled him over into his arms as he kissed him. "I can't help that you get my engine revved up every time I'm near you."

"You could if you wanted to." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus smirked at him. "As I recall, you've never once complained about being kept up at night."

"Hard to when you're halfway to overload and can't have a real coherent thought." Ratchet retorted.

Optimus knew that Ratchet didn't actually mean what he said. Which was why he never bothered to stop attempting to get Ratchet into the berth. Or rather succeeding in getting Ratchet into the berth. He leaned forward and kissed Ratchet again, bringing his hand up and resting it on the back of Ratchet's helm. He gently traced his glossa over Ratchet's lips.

Ratchet groaned into the kiss as he opened his mouth, letting his mate have his way. He felt his mate's glossa slip into his mouth and slowly start to trace around the inside of his mouth. The medic brought his hands up to Optimus's back and started to stroke over the Prime's back, particularly at his shoulder struts, which were rather sensitive. He was rewarded with a moan of pleasure from his mate.

Optimus pulled Ratchet into his lap so that the medic was straddling him as he trailed his fingers down the medic's frame, stroking over sensitive sensors that set the medic's circuits on fire. The Prime broke the kiss and gently trailed kisses down Ratchet's cheek and to his neck cables, where he nipped at them lightly.

Ratchet groaned loudly at that. "I can see why you took the time to come here."

Optimus chuckled against Ratchet's neck. "Perfect time once I learned from First Aid that you were here and had a few joor before Smokescreen's appointment." He slid his glossa in-between his chartreuse mate's neck cables, enjoying the moan that escaped the medic.

Ratchet whimpered at the feelings before he found himself pushed backwards onto the berth by his mate before he was straddled by his mate.

Optimus leaned down and kissed his mate again, enjoying the moan that escaped from him. He then moved down, pressing his lips to Ratchet's chest plates.

Ratchet groaned as he felt his mate's glossa sliding along the seams where his chest plates parted. He hated when he would do that because it felt so good.

:_Um, Ratchet?_:

Ratchet released a loud groan, partly from frustration at being interrupted and partly because of the fact that Optimus had continued trailing his glossa along the seams. :_What is it, Hot Shot?_:

:_Ratchet, Smokescreen just went into labor._: Hot Shot told him.

That was worth interrupting. :_Take him to the infirmary and put him in examination room A. I'll be there soon._: Ratchet replied. He then cut the link and barely suppressed the moan that wanted to escape from the fact that Optimus was still teasing him. "Orion, you're going to have to stop."

"One good reason." Optimus murmured against Ratchet's abdominal plating.

Ratchet tried to control his venting at that. "Smokescreen's in labor. I have to go."

Optimus sighed, but pulled back. "Maybe later." He kissed Ratchet quickly before moving so that the medic could get up from the berth.

"It won't kill you." Ratchet told him.

"I know. Good luck." Optimus told him

"Smokescreen's the one that needs that." Ratchet replied as he left the berth room and headed out of their quarters.

Optimus smiled after his mate. He couldn't wait for when Ratchet had their sparklings. He wanted to see them with his own optics.

* * *

><p>Smokescreen let out a pained cry before he turned a fierce glare on to his mate. "This is all your fault!"<p>

Hot Shot cringed at the look, but remembered what Ratchet had warned him about and didn't say a word. Besides, this was Ratchet's son, meaning that there was a good chance that Smokescreen had Ratchet's aim and his strength. He certainly had his glares.

First Aid already had Smokescreen set up in the examination room. After helping Ratchet with Bluestreak only a few cycles before, he remembered what to do and figured that he could help his mentor out that much.

A moment later, Ratchet walked into the room.

First Aid instantly looked up. "Smokescreen's in the early stages of labor. Both sparklings are tearing their way through the sacs, but neither are out of the sac yet. He's started dilating, but not much."

Ratchet nodded before walking over to his son. He saw that First Aid was right on both counts. "Good work, First Aid." He then turned his attention to Smokescreen. "I'm sorry, Smokescreen, but we're going to have to wait a while before we can do anything."

Smokescreen nodded.

"Can you do anything for the pain?" Hot Shot asked, hating to see his mate in this much pain.

"It's better not to. Delivery is much easier when the carrier has not been given painkillers. Painkillers are only given when it is necessary to cut the sparklings out, but it shouldn't have to be done." Ratchet replied.

Smokescreen vented deeply before his vents hitched at a sudden painful contraction.

"Breath in deeply, Smokescreen, and then exhale slowly. Just like we practiced." Ratchet told his son gently. He knew what labor was like, so he knew that it was easy to forget something like that.

Smokescreen nodded and started doing what he was told.

Ratchet noticed that First Aid had already gotten everything that they would need and even the things that the medic prayed they would not need set out and arranged just the way that the medic had had them set up the last time. He was grateful for that.

Smokescreen didn't think that this could get any worse.

* * *

><p>Optimus had decided to return to his office and get some work done since he wouldn't be able to see Ratchet for a little while. He noticed that there were even more datapads on his desk than when he had left. He released a groan before sitting in his chair and picking up the first datapad.<p>

"That was quick."

Optimus glanced up to look at his sire. "Excuse me?"

Nemesis grinned. "I know why you decided to go back to your quarters. When you do that, you're normally in there for a few joor. This time, you weren't even gone half a breem."

Optimus rolled his optics. "Trust me, Sire. I haven't lost my touch. Smokescreen went into labor, and it's not like I could ask Ratchet to stay for that reason."

"Hmm. True." Nemesis agreed. He walked on into the room and took notice of the number of datapads that littered his son's desk. "You know, I don't remember ever having to work on this many datapads in a single cycle when I was Prime."

Optimus sighed. "You also didn't have to deal with the ridiculousness that is human bureaucracy. It still astounds me how their government works, all things considered. A single bill takes months to simply discuss and even longer to decide on." He shook his helm. "We never had this trouble on Cybertron. Things didn't take as much time to figure out." The younger Prime sighed. "Makes me wish things were the way they were back on Cybertron."

Nemesis smiled before he walked over and patted his son on the shoulder. "We're on a different planet, Orion, so we have to abide by the way humans do things. Even if what they do seems completely illogical to us."

"I know, Sire. Doesn't mean I can't wish for the way things used to be." Optimus replied.

"No. Not at all." Nemesis agreed. He glanced over at his son. "Just out of curiosity, have you and Ratchet discussed what you are going to end up naming the triplets?"

"We've discussed some designations, yes. We haven't decided on any yet, though." Optimus smiled. "Before we started talking about designations, we agreed that we would only pick a designation that we both liked. We haven't agreed on any yet."

Nemesis shook his helm. "You are certainly not like me. I stayed fearful of Alpha while he was sparked. I was afraid that anything I said would end up getting me slagged. He asked me a question, the answer was yes. He ordered me to do something, I did it. He asked me if I liked this designation for you, I said yes."

"Was Carrier really that bad?" Optimus asked.

"I wish he had been half as calm as Ratchet appears to be." Nemesis replied.

Optimus raised an optic ridge at his sire. "So, does that mean that you did not like calling me Orion Pax?"

Nemesis chuckled. "In all honestly, I did like that designation. As you know, you were named for my carrier, Nova Pax, and Alpha's sire, Orion Sphere."

Optimus nodded. "I'm glad of that. It would have been bad had you not actually liked my designation."

"It was fine, but your carrier was difficult when he was sparked." Nemesis said.

"Was I now?"

Nemesis jumped before whirling to face an un-amused Alpha Trion. "Um, well, you see-"

Optimus was so glad that he was not in his sire's position. His carrier was normally a calm mech, but if you crossed him wrong, you were slagged. And his sire was most definitely in a load slag.

Alpha Trion glared at his mate before turning and stomping off.

Nemesis groaned before looking at his son. "Any chance I can crash in your quarters tonight? I don't think Alpha's going to let me in our quarters tonight."

"I would say yes, but I don't think you'd appreciate the noise." Optimus smirked. "You'd be amazed at how much Ratchet enjoys interfacing."

"I'm outside then." Nemesis muttered.

"No bot's taken over Ratchet's old quarters yet. You could always crash in there. I can give you the override code to it in case." Optimus replied.

Nemesis nodded. "I think that that's a good idea."

Optimus barely hid his smirk. One thing he wasn't too worried about was Ratchet kicking him out of their quarters. One thing about the medic was that when they did argue, Ratchet normally wanted to resolve it before they went to recharge that night. And the make-up interfacing was always great.

* * *

><p>"So help me, Hot Shot, if you ever even think about touching me again, I am going to rip your spike off!" Smokescreen snarled as he glared at his mate with a Ratchet-worthy glare and squeezed his mate's hand so hard that Hot Shot's fingers were crushed.<p>

Hot Shot cringed at the threat, feeling very fearful of his mate. And he couldn't help but wonder if his mate would follow through with his threat. Like Ratchet normally would if he was pushed hard enough. Smokescreen was Ratchet's son, after all, which meant that he had the potential to carry out any threat that he made against another bot.

Ratchet hid his smirk. He was finding himself very proud of his grand-creation and his son as they both had proved that they had his coding in them. He then moved to check on Smokescreen again and was glad to see that Smokescreen was ready to deliver. He also knew that Smokescreen would be happy to deliver. And so would Hot Shot. "All right, Smokey. You're ready to deliver."

"Thank Primus." Smokescreen muttered and then immediately released a pained keen at the painful contraction that wracked his frame.

Ratchet gently raised Smokescreen's legs and then pushed them apart, moving the blanket back to Smokescreen's knees. "Smokescreen, on the next contraction, I want you to push as hard as you can."

Smokescreen nodded. He felt a powerful contraction hit, so he did as his carrier had told him and pushed as hard as he could, squeezing Hot Shot's hand in the process.

Hot Shot winced, but said nothing.

First Aid was nearby to help if need be. He was also keeping a close optic on everything that was done so that he would be able to do the same for Ratchet when his mentor went into labor.

Smokescreen had never felt anything so painful in his entire function. There was nothing that could possibly be more painful than what he was going through. He didn't think even the Decepticons could come up with a torture that would hurt as much as this did.

"Stop." Ratchet told him.

Smokescreen did so, feeling like he hadn't accomplished anything. He tightened his grip on Hot Shot's hand, grimacing at the pain.

Ratchet saw on the monitors that another contraction had hit and told his son to push again.

Smokescreen did as ordered, pushing as hard as he could. He felt as if somebot was taking a sword and slowly ripping it through his abdominal section right down to his valve. It just hurt so slagging much.

On the next push, the helm crowned, causing a loud keen to escape from Smokescreen.

Ratchet placed his hands around the sparklings helm to catch the sparkling when he fully emerged from his carrier. "Smokescreen, another hard push, and he should be here."

Smokescreen did as told, pushing as hard as he could manage.

Almost immediately, the sparkling fully emerged from Smokescreen.

Ratchet easily caught the sparkling and quickly cleaned the fluid from the sparkling's intakes, which was followed by a cry from the sparkling.

Smokescreen felt relief flood him when he heard his sparkling cry out.

First Aid quickly took the sparkling from Ratchet to check on the sparkling's systems and to clean the sparkling up while Ratchet turned his focus back to Smokescreen.

"Smokescreen, I need you to focus. You still need to deliver the other sparkling." Ratchet told him.

Smokescreen nodded. He was still in a lot of pain despite the fact that he had already delivered one of the sparklings. He thought it would have eased off, but it hadn't.

Ratchet checked on the progress of the other sparkling and saw that it hadn't entered the birthing canal just yet. He then noticed something that alarmed him.

Smokescreen's spark rate was dropping, which was not a good thing. It meant that the strain was getting to be too much for his spark.

Ratchet knew that he was going to have to cut the second sparkling out of Smokescreen before both Smokescreen and the sparkling were placed in even more danger. He hated having to alarm the two mechs, but there was no choice at the moment. "Smokescreen, Hot Shot. I need you two to listen to me."

Both mechs turned their attention to Ratchet, although Smokescreen was finding it more than a bit difficult to focus on his carrier at the moment.

"What's wrong?" Hot Shot was worried because of how Smokescreen was acting and how concerned Ratchet seemed.

"Smokescreen's spark rate is dropping. I'm going to have to cut the other sparkling out." Ratchet replied. He looked at Hot Shot. "You can stay or leave. Your choice. Just stay out of the way."

Hot Shot nodded shakily, worried for his mate and his other sparkling.

"Don't worry, Hot Shot. I've seen this happen before. It'll be fine." Ratchet told him.

Jolt, having been commed by Ratchet, immediately walked into the room.

"Jolt, watch the sparkling. First Aid, I need you to administer painkillers." Ratchet stated.

First Aid did as ordered while Ratchet went ahead and took one of the scalpels in his hand.

Ratchet saw just how shaky Hot Shot was. "If you want to see your sparkling, go ahead." He had a feeling that Hot Shot wouldn't handle watching this well.

Hot Shot nodded and walked over to his sparkling.

While Hot Shot was with his sparkling, Ratchet and First Aid got to work. With Smokescreen now knocked out from the painkillers First Aid had administered, First Aid removed Smokescreen's armor over his abdominal section and set it to the side out of Ratchet's way. Once that was done, Ratchet was able to use the scalpel to start cutting through Smokescreen's protoform and into the gestation chamber, being careful not to hurt the sparkling.

"First Aid, once I have the protoform pulled away, I want you to reach in and cut the few strings of circuitry to get the sparkling out. Just be careful." Ratchet told him.

First Aid nodded his helm. He had read up on the subject of having to cut a sparkling out of its carrier as well as having Ratchet's lectures to know what to do. He picked up his own scalpel.

Once Ratchet had made the necessary cuts to Smokescreen's protoform, he pulled the protoform away, all the while keeping a close optic on Smokescreen's spark rate.

First Aid did as he had been instructed and reached inside the gestation chamber and cut the strands of circuitry that still connected the sparkling to the sac. Once the strands were cut, First Aid gently lifted the sparkling from the chamber and quickly cleared the sparkling's intakes. The sparkling then released a loud cry next.

"Jolt, help me." Ratchet knew that Hot Shot would watch the one sparkling while First Aid handled the other one.

Jolt immediately came over.

"Get me the welder so I can do the necessary repairs." Ratchet told him.

Jolt nodded and got what he needed, amazed that Ratchet had remained so calm and collected while operating in such a stressful situation when it was his son and grand-creation that were on the line.

Ratchet took the instruments and started the repair work to Smokescreen.

"First Aid, get the special energon for the sparklings." Ratchet stated.

"Wh-" Hot Shot stated.

"Smokescreen will remain unconscious for a few joor, but the sparklings need energon. It's a special blend made for these types of situations. Once Smokescreen comes back online, he can feed them properly. For now, this will give them what they need until Smokescreen can feed them." Ratchet explained.

Hot Shot understood that. "Will Smokey be all right?"

"He should be fine. His spark rate's still a bit low, but it should come up. It's happened to patients before, Hot Shot. The only time it ends in fatality is when the medic waits too long to cut the sparkling out. We did do immediately, so they should be fine." Ratchet replied as he started a medical energon drip and inserted special additives to the medical grade to help Smokescreen's spark rate rise and stabilize.

Hot Shot nodded, relieved to hear that.

First Aid had finished checking over the second sparkling's systems. "His systems are fine as well. They're both healthy." The young medic handed the sparkling to Jolt before he went to get the energon that the sparklings would need for the time being.

* * *

><p>Smokescreen released a low groan as he slowly came online. His processors were killing him, and they were also foggy. His valve, back, tanks, and chest were all killing him as well. On top of that, his midsection hurt more than any of it.<p>

There was a gentle hand on his doorwing, so Smokescreen onlined his optics and found himself looking up at his carrier. "Carrier?"

Ratchet smiled. "Welcome back, Smokescreen."

"What happened?" Smokescreen asked.

"When you were trying to deliver the second sparkling, your spark rate started dropping. I had to cut the sparkling out of you. You've been out of it for a few joor." Ratchet explained.

Smokescreen immediately turned panicky. "The sparkling-"

"Is fine. Perfectly healthy." Ratchet nodded to Hot Shot.

Hot Shot walked over with both sparklings in his arms.

Smokescreen felt relieved.

"I know you're probably in a bit of pain, Smokey, but you need to feed them. We have special energon for sparklings that they were given, but it's better if they get their energon from you for the time being." Ratchet told him.

Smokescreen nodded, and Ratchet helped him sit up.

Hot Shot then handed one the sparklings to his mate. This sparkling was dark blue and had streaks of yellow going through him. This sparkling had inherited the Praxian doorwings, which were mostly yellow with a bit of red.

Smokescreen immediately opened his chest plates and held his son so that he could feed.

The sparkling immediately found the nub and started drinking the energon it needed.

Smokescreen looked at his other sparkling and noticed that this sparkling looked a lot like Hot Shot, although the sparkling was a chartreuse color. He glanced at his carrier. "It looks like he inherited your colors, Carrier."

"So it would seem." Ratchet replied. He glanced at them. "Did you two decide on designations for them?"

"Yeah. Actually, we did." Smokescreen glanced down at the one in his arms. "We're going to call this one Windblazer."

"And this one is going to be Kickstart." Hot Shot added.

Ratchet nodded. "Now, since I had to cut one of them out, Smokescreen, your recovery is going to take a little longer than normal. And I want you to take it easy for the next three breem." Ratchet told him.

"Sure thing, Carrier." Smokescreen could tell from the way that he felt right then that he wasn't going to want to do much at the moment.

Ratchet then looked Hot Shot. "And no interfacing of any type until further notice. I don't want to chance his injuries worsening nor do I want any damage to come to his valve."

Hot Shot nodded. "Not a problem." He so did not want to face Ratchet's wrath if he broke his orders in this.

"Good. I'll talk to Optimus and Prowl to see about extending your time off until Smokescreen can move around better after this surgery." Ratchet said.

"Thanks, Ratchet." After this, Hot Shot really wanted to spend a little extra time with his family. He had been scared to death. "Um, Ratchet. When Smokescreen's sparked again, would this happen?"

"It's possible. I've seen bots have this happen one time and then have as smooth a delivery as possible for the next one. It just depends." Ratchet answered.

When Windblazer was finished taking in his energon, Smokescreen handed him to Hot Shot and took Kickstart from Hot Shot to feed him.

"I should also tell you that you're going to be on medical grade for about four more cycles. It'll help the healing from the surgery." Ratchet told him.

"Okay." Smokescreen replied. He hated asking, but he really needed some relief from the pain. "Can you give me anything for the pain that won't interfere with the energon they need?"

"Yes. It's a lighter painkiller that won't affect the energon. You'll also keep clearer processors with this one." Ratchet replied.

Smokescreen was glad to hear that.

"Once they're fed, I'll give it to you." Ratchet assured his creation.

* * *

><p>The moment that Ratchet stepped into their shared quarters, Optimus could easily tell just how physically exhausted his mate was, and he could also see just how upset his mate was as well. The Prime could feel it through their bond, and he could also see it written all over Ratchet's faceplates.<p>

Ratchet looked up and met his mate's optics. "I hate having to do that."

Optimus reached and took Ratchet by the hand before he pulled the medic down onto the couch with him and wrapped his arms around his mate, just holding him.

Ratchet leaned into the warm embrace, needing it at the moment. He hated having to operate on his family because it was so difficult on him emotionally. He might appear to be completely calm and collected when dealing with the surgeries of his family, but that wasn't the case. He was just as worried and scared as any family member would be if not more so considering the fact that **HE **was the one that was performing the surgery.

Optimus could easily feel just how upset Ratchet was. "They are going to be all right, aren't they?"

"Yes." Ratchet murmured.

Optimus leaned back, allowing Ratchet to lean more on him as he gently rubbed his mate's back. "Why are you so upset then?"

Ratchet sighed. "There's a reason that I was never the medic to handle Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen's injuries when they were life threatening. I knew that it would be too difficult for me to deal with."

"You deal with Wheeljack's injuries all the time." Optimus pointed out.

"Yes, and those injuries are normally self-inflicted, Orion." Ratchet replied.

Optimus chuckled. "Yes. I suppose they are." He held Ratchet tightly. "So, does that mean you had the same issues with me?"

"Yes, and I always had to deal with them because you are an expert at getting yourself slagged by Megatron." Ratchet retorted.

Optimus smiled. "I suppose that's why you were so upset when you had to help Prowl back then." He remembered when he had taken Ratchet back to his quarters because he was concerned about how upset Ratchet had been, and the two had ended up consuming so much high grade that they interfaced and had no recollection of anything that had happened beyond their talk beforehand.

"Yes. It's just hard." Ratchet replied. He shook his helm. "The fear and worry of whether or not I would lose them was bad enough. Knowing that their lives were in my hands and that if they were lost, it was my fault made it worse."

Optimus chose not to mention that it wouldn't have been Ratchet's fault. It wouldn't have done any good at this point anyway. "Come on. You need to get some energon and then get some recharge. You've had a long day."

Ratchet nodded his agreement.

The two rose from the couch, and Optimus got energon for them both before they headed back to their berth room. Once they had consumed their energon, the lay down on the berth.

Optimus wrapped his arms around Ratchet and pulled him close, offering him what comfort he could in this situation.

"Thanks, Orion." Ratchet muttered.

"Anything for you, Ratchet." Optimus replied. He held his mate close as his scanners picked up on Ratchet's settling systems and knew that the medic was already slipping into recharge, a sign of how exhausted Ratchet truly was. The Prime pressed a gentle kiss to the back of Ratchet's neck. "Anything for you, Ratchet." Optimus murmured once more.

* * *

><p>Leave a review and let me know what you thought.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

**My family just got the Internet back today, so like I said before, I'm updating all three of my stories! Thanks for the patience!**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 17<p>

Jazz and Prowl had gone to see Ratchet since it was time for one of the silver mech's regular appointments with the mech. The two mechs walked toward the infirmary at a slower pace as Jazz was not able to move as quickly as he normally did. The twin sparklings had added a lot more weight than Jazz thought they would, which meant that he couldn't move as fast as normal.

"I hope these two decide to come soon. They're killing me." Jazz muttered.

Prowl had to admit that he was worried about his mate. He knew that Cybertronians didn't show that they were sparked quite as much as humans always did, but it was more than obvious that Jazz was sparked. He hoped that this wouldn't make delivery any harder on his mate than necessary.

The two entered the infirmary to find that First Aid was the only one in the infirmary.

"First Aid, where is my carrier?" Prowl asked.

"In his office. He needed to get off his feet." First Aid replied.

"Doc's got ta feel about as bad as I do." Jazz remarked as he got on the medical berth with Prowl's help.

"You could say that."

Prowl and Jazz looked over to see Ratchet emerging from his office.

Ratchet was carrying triplets, and his protoform hadn't distended as much as Jazz's had, Prowl mused. It caused the black and white tactician to wonder how this would affect his mate when he was in labor.

Ratchet walked over and started to do his examination on Jazz. He found that all of Jazz's vitals were fine as were both sparklings. He also noted that the sparklings barely had any room left in the gestation chamber, meaning that it wouldn't be long before they needed to come. "Everything does look good, Jazz."

"That's great news, doc." Jazz replied. He had to admit that other than being tired and feeling like he had five sparklings inside of him instead of two, he felt fine.

"Could you two come into my office?" Ratchet asked.

Prowl froze. "I thought you said nothing is wrong."

"It's not, but I need to get off my feet. And the chairs in my office are a lot more comfortable than the ones out here." Ratchet replied. He glanced at First Aid. "You come too." The CMO then turned and headed back into his office.

Prowl helped Jazz off the medical berth, and the two followed the chartreuse mech into his office with First Aid trailing behind them.

Ratchet walked around his desk and sat down in his chair, grateful to get off his feet. He was starting to wonder if he would manage helping Jazz considering how much his feet bothered him when he stayed on them for too long.

Jazz sat in one of the chairs across from the medic and immediately came to the conclusion that these chairs were a whole lot more comfortable than the standard chairs that were set up in the infirmary. These chairs helped his back, which he was beyond grateful for. Prowl sat in the other chair beside Jazz while First Aid leaned back against the wall to listen once he had the door closed and locked.

"All right. As I said, there is nothing wrong with Jazz or the sparklings. I will admit that I have concerns about the delivery."

"Why doc?" Jazz asked.

"Jazz, do you remember how difficult it was for you to give birth to Bluestreak?" Ratchet asked.

"Do I ever! Thought I wouldn't manage it. Giving birth to Blue was really hard." Jazz stated.

"As I recall, you thought that you were going to have cut Bluestreak out of Jazz." Prowl added.

Ratchet nodded. "I did, and it had nothing to do with the fact that Jazz or Bluestreak were in danger. It was because Bluestreak had Prowl's frame type."

"The doorwings." Jazz stated.

"No, Jazz. The doorwings actually had nothing to do with it. It was simply because Bluestreak possessed Prowl's larger frame type. You know that Prowl's frame is much larger than yours in comparison." Ratchet stated.

"Well, yeah. Prowler's twice my size." Jazz replied.

"Exactly. It's why it was so difficult for you to give birth to Bluestreak. His frame type was bigger even for a sparkling. It's why you almost couldn't have him naturally." Ratchet stated.

"So, what's ya point, doc?" Jazz asked, knowing that there was a point here.

"As I've told you, both of the sparklings you're carrying now have Prowl's larger frame type. Whether or not they both have doorwings I can't be certain. That being said, it'll be twice as hard for you to have them naturally, if you're even able to." Ratchet stated.

Prowl had a feeling he knew where his carrier was going. "You don't think that Jazz is going to be able to have them naturally?"

"No, I don't. Which is why I wanted to talk to you now. In my experience, I've come to know that when you know it would be next to impossible for the carrier to give birth naturally, the best thing to do is to surgically remove the sparklings before the carrier goes into labor. It's easier on the carrier that way. And in a case like this, I think it's the best route to go." Ratchet stated.

Jazz remembered how it was to give birth to Bluestreak naturally. He almost couldn't do it and had come close to simply begging Ratchet to cut him out. It had felt like his valve was being ripped apart, and he actually had painful tears in his valve that had taken a while to heal.

"If Jazz were to try to have them naturally, would he or the sparklings be in any danger?" Prowl asked.

"From the vitals I have, no. I'm sure you both remember the aftermath of when Bluestreak was born." Ratchet glanced at Jazz. "I'm sure you remember."

Jazz nodded. "Yeah. I remember. It was all worth it when I saw Blue, but it didn't make the pain go away, and I remember how long it took me to recover. Wasn't easy."

"I know, Jazz. And those tears to your valve will be worse. And Bluestreak managed to crack your tanks when you were in labor. That could happen again. And that could be worse." Ratchet stated.

Prowl considered it. "So, the safest alternative would be for you to surgically remove the sparklings before Jazz even goes into labor."

"That is the best alternative, yes. I'm not saying it's absolutely necessary, but I think that's something that you two should discuss." Ratchet replied.

"Actually, I think Jazz is the one who needs to decide that. This is his body, and he's the one who would have to go through the labor. I believe it's his decision." Prowl answered.

Jazz considered it a moment. He remembered just how bad off he had been when Bluestreak had been born. He remembered Ratchet making the same recommendation then and the silver mech had ignored it. And regretted it. "Doin' it this way wouldn't endanger the sparklings, right?" Jazz asked.

"No. They will be fine, Jazz. This is just the best way to go looking at it from the perspective of the injuries that you would sustain from natural delivery." Ratchet answered.

"Well, considerin' the fact I regretted not doin' it when I had Blue, I think I'd prefer takin' your advice this time around, doc." Jazz replied.

"Very well then. We can do the surgery at any time. The sparklings can survive outside of you now, Jazz." Ratchet told them.

"Sure thing, doc. You just tell us when." Jazz stated.

Ratchet considered that for a moment. "Well, give me three cycles and then we'll do the surgery. It'll give me time to make sure First Aid and Jolt are up-to-date on what to expect." It would also give him time to mentally prepare himself for being on his feet for a bit.

"Carrier, does this mean that Jazz will need to have the sparklings surgically removed every time he carries?" Prowl asked.

"Not necessarily. If they inherit Jazz's smaller frame type, then he could have them naturally. It is when they inherit your frame type, Prowl, when it will be easier for them to be surgically removed." Ratchet smirked. "The pains of having a mate who is twice your size."

"Yeah. Guess I should have expected this. When do ya want me to come in?" Jazz asked.

"On Friday at 0600. We can get the surgery done early. Just so that you're aware, you are going to need extra time to recover from the surgery, Jazz. Just like Smokescreen did." Ratchet then looked at Prowl. "I'll talk to Optimus. I'm sure that he won't mind you taking an extra breem off. It'll be good for Jazz to have you there to help for that extra breem."

Prowl nodded. He didn't particularly like leaving Optimus to deal with all the human bureaucracy and Autobots for three breem, but he would like to be with his mate and new sparklings for a time.

"We'll see ya then, doc." Jazz then thought of something else. "By the way, with ya havin' ta remove the sparklings like that, is Prowler not goin' ta be able to be in tha room wit' meh?"

"Well, that depends on you, Jazz. I can use a painkiller that will knock you out entirely, or I can use one that will leave you numb from your midsection down so Prowl could remain in there." Ratchet replied.

Jazz glanced over at his mate. "What'd ya think, Prowler? Think ya could handle watching the doc operate on meh?"

"Considering this is a planned surgery and not something spontaneously happening or the result of battle injuries, yes, I believe that I could handle it, Jazz. Your life is not in danger, and neither are our sparklings." Prowl replied, knowing that if his mate and sparklings were in danger that he would be unable to handle it.

Ratchet nodded his helm. "All right then. We'll get ready for it then."

Jazz and Prowl agreed with him before the two left the medic's office.

Ratchet glanced over at First Aid. "Get Jolt and Perceptor in here so I can talk to them about what to expect."

"Yes, sir." First Aid quickly left to do it.

Ratchet sighed as he leaned back in the chair. He knew that he was the one that would have the most difficulty since it would mean remaining on his feet for an extended period of time. That was not going to be easy on any level.

* * *

><p>Optimus smiled as he tickled Jumpstreak, who laughed as he was tickled. The Prime had the day off and had volunteered to watch Jumpstreak and Brightspark for Bluestreak to let the grey Praxian have a few joor to get some much needed recharge. Besides, he figured that he needed the practice since he had three on the way as it was. "You are certainly a giggle machine Jumpstreak.<p>

Jumpstreak simply giggled again at that statement.

Brightspark, who had been playing with a few toys in the room, abandoned them to make his way over to his brother and Optimus.

Optimus chuckled. "I suppose you want some attention as well, Brightspark."

Brightspark chirped at Optimus in a manner that told the Prime Brightspark did want some attention.

When Ratchet entered his quarters, he found his mate tickling the two sparklings, who were laughing at it. He smiled. "Getting some practice?"

Optimus glanced up at his mate. "I might as well. Besides, Bluestreak needed the rest."

Ratchet nodded his helm in agreement. "Yes. Being a carrier isn't easy. I should know."

"Well, at least Bluestreak does have Sideswipe and Sunstreaker to help him. You raised Prowl and Smokescreen alone." Optimus pointed out.

"I know." Ratchet replied as he walked over and settled on the couch, needing to get off of his feet. He noticed that Brightspark had crawled over to him, so he reached down and picked Brightspark up and settled the sparkling in his lap. He then noticed that Brightspark was brushing off his frame, like he didn't like the dirt. "You are going to be just like Sunstreaker, aren't you, Brightspark? Constantly worried about how you look."

Optimus chuckled. "What did you expect? He's Sunstreaker's son."

"I could hope that he would take after Bluestreak, but that didn't happen." Ratchet replied.

Optimus smiled before he picked up Jumpstreak. "I suppose so."

"Of course, it doesn't make me love him any less. Maybe he'll wind up with Bluestreak's personality at the very least." Ratchet remarked.

"We'll see." Optimus glanced at his mate. "How is Jazz?"

"He's fine although on Friday at 0600 I'm going to be surgically removing the sparklings." Ratchet replied.

Optimus started at that. "What's wrong?"

Ratchet shook his helm. "Nothing. Both sparklings inherited Prowl's frame type, which means that Jazz would struggle to deliver them both. He barely managed with Bluestreak alone. Doing it this way it the safest way to go."

"All right." Optimus was glad to hear that there was nothing wrong.

"Prowl will probably thank me because that means that Jazz won't be in labor or pain, which also means Prowl's life won't be threatened by Jazz." Ratchet remarked.

Optimus smiled. "I suppose Prowl will be glad of that."

"I'm sure after the threats I heard Jazz throw at Prowl when he was in labor with Bluestreak. I had to completely overhaul Prowl's hand, too. Jazz had done that much damage to it." Ratchet remarked.

Optimus decided that Prowl would be more than happy to have it done this way. "Will you have to do that with ours?"

"Doubtful. There's a great size discrepancy between Prowl and Jazz's frame types, which is why it would be so hard for Jazz to deliver them both naturally. Your frame might be larger than mine, but not to the point it should push us to that point. It will be painful for me, yes, but I won't need them surgically removed." Ratchet replied.

Optimus was glad to hear that, although he wasn't looking forward to threats that Ratchet would end up throwing at him if Ratchet's regular threats were anything to go by.

* * *

><p>Before going to his grand-carrier's quarters to get his sparklings from Optimus, Bluestreak had gone by his own creators' quarters to see how his carrier was doing. He knocked on the door.<p>

"Come on in, Blue!" Jazz called.

Well, his carrier sounded like he was in good spirits. Bluestreak entered the building and walked in to find that Jazz was sitting on the couch. "Where's Sire?"

"In his office gettin' some work done. Doesn't have long before these two are goin' ta be here, so Prowler thought he'd better get as much done as possible." Jazz replied. He frowned. "So, are Sunny and Sides watchin' Brightspark and Jumpstreak?"

"No. Optimus had the day off and volunteered to watch them for me so that I could get some rest." Bluestreak smiled. "I figured that there was no harm considering the fact that he probably needs the practice."

"That's true." Jazz agreed. He was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the table in the middle of the room. He knew that Prowl didn't like when he did it, but he really needed his feet elevated at the moment. "Prime ain't never had a sparklin' of his own before, so he probably needs all the practice he can get." Jazz grinned. "We know the doc'll be fine considerin' the fact that he raised Prowler and Smokey alone. And he was instrumental in helpin' us wit' ya, Blue."

"Yeah. I remember." Bluestreak walked over and sat down by his carrier. "Think Grand-Carrier is going to be as involved with Brightspark and Jumpstreak?"

"Maybe not as involved as he was wit' you, but still very involved, Blue. Ya got ta remember doc didn't have any creations he was raisin' when ya were growin' up. Doc's gon' have three he's takin' care of this time. He'll still be involved with all of 'em, though." Jazz replied.

"How are you doing, Carrier?" Bluestreak asked.

"I'm fine. Nothin' wrong wit' me or ya brothers. Doc's plannin' on surgically removin' 'em from meh Friday at 0600, so ya'll be able to see 'em then." Jazz replied.

Bluestreak immediately became alarmed. "Why are they being removed surgically? Are you all right, or is something wrong?"

Jazz reached over and placed a hand on his son's doorwing. "Calm down, Blue. If somethin' was wrong, I woulda already told ya. Both of the sparklings have ya Sire's frame type. Considerin' tha fact that ya Sire's twice my size, it means a very difficult and more painful delivery than ya went through. They're already so big it's difficult ta give birth to 'em naturally. Had the same problem with ya. Doc suggested surgically removin' ya, but I decided not to. And I regretted it." Jazz grimaced. "It wasn't ya fault and it's not ya brothers fault. It's just because of the difference in the frame types. It'll be easier for all of us if doc just removed them surgically before I go into labor." Jazz stated.

"Why did you regret having me naturally?" Bluestreak asked.

"Well, ya were already so big considerin' tha fact that ya had ya Sire's frame type it caused rather painful tearing to my valve. Caused some other internal injuries that weren't ya fault, too. It took me three times as long to recover. Just figure doin' it this way that it'll cause me less injuries and be easier on us all." Jazz replied.

"So, will you have them removed like that every time now?" Bluestreak asked curiously.

"Not if the sparklin' has my frame type. I could handle that easier." Jazz replied.

Bluestreak nodded. "Well, at least we know when they're coming." He smiled. "Just make sure to let us know when we can see you."

Jazz laughed. "Not a problem, Blue. Honestly, I think doc's gone have the hardest part."

"Doing the surgery." Bluestreak guessed.

"Nah. Stayin' on 'is feet for so long. If twins cause me to be this tired and want to keep my feet up so much, then I can't imagine how bad it is for 'im. Probably will kill his feet trying to stay on his feet so long." Jazz shrugged. "At least he'll have First Aid and Jolt there to give him a hand."

Bluestreak nodded. "Have you and Sire decided on what you're calling them?"

"Yeah. We have, but we agreed not to tell anybot until after they're born." Jazz replied.

Bluestreak nodded in agreement. "I understand." He smiled. "Well, I can't wait to actually meet my brothers."

Jazz laughed. "Prowler and I can't wait, either, Blue. We don't have long before that, though."

* * *

><p>Bluestreak had already gotten Brightspark and Jumpstreak from Optimus and Ratchet, so that left the two mates alone in their quarters.<p>

"How are you feeling?" Optimus asked as he handed a cube of medical grade to his mate.

"Tired." Ratchet admitted. He took a sip of the energon. "My feet and back are killing me." He winced at a particularly painful kick. "And my tanks aren't fairing much better."

Optimus smiled sympathetically at his mate. "Maybe next time you'll only have one."

"Not likely. I have that predisposition to have twins. Remember." Ratchet took another sip of the energon.

Optimus walked over and sat down by his mate. "Well, maybe it'll be just twins next time."

"One can only hope." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus knew just how uncomfortable his mate was at the moment and wished that there was something he could do to make Ratchet feel more comfortable. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. "Maybe it'll help if you laid down." Optimus suggested.

"I honestly don't think it will help, but I might as well. At the very least it'll help my feet." The medic stood before he headed back to the berth room.

Optimus considered it a moment before he decided to follow his mate. He headed back after his mate to find that Ratchet was already sitting on the berth. The Prime walked over and sat down behind him. "I'm assuming that the final stage is the worst for carriers."

"You have no idea. Especially since I'm carrying triplets. The last stage, especially the last half of it, is the time when the carrier is the most uncomfortable." Ratchet sighed. "That's true for all carriers."

Optimus felt bad for his mate. He hated that Ratchet was so uncomfortable at the moment. He reached over and gently massaged his mate's shoulders. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"I doubt it, Orion." Ratchet shook his helm. "Like all carriers, I'm just going to have to deal with it until after the sparklings come."

Optimus hated that thought, but knew that there was very little that he could do. "Maybe you should just rest from now on."

"After Jazz's surgery, I'll be able to." Ratchet replied.

Optimus frowned. "Are you going to be able to handle doing that?"

"I'm not going to have a choice, Orion. There's no other bot that has actually surgically removed a sparkling from its carrier before. It's a very delicate procedure." Ratchet told him.

Optimus was concerned at hearing that. He could see just how exhausted his mate really was, and he was concerned that Ratchet was going to overdo it. "Just promise me that you'll get some rest after you're done."

Ratchet turned and smiled at his mate. "Trust me, Orion. I'm not going to want to do anything, but get off my feet once it's over with. Even if its sitting down in the room they're in."

"All right." Optimus gently kissed the back of Ratchet's neck. "I just worry about all four of you."

"I know you do." Ratchet leaned back against his mate and felt it as Optimus wrapped his arms around his waist. He was glad that he had had Optimus to help him through carrying this time around. He would have hated to put Wheeljack through that slag again.

"You know, we still haven't decided on any designations for them." Optimus murmured.

"Yeah. I know. Suppose we need to start thinking about more of them." Ratchet agreed.

"We're both off right now, so we could talk about them now." Optimus stated as he slowly slid his hands around to Ratchet's back and started rubbing his back, sending low energon pulses into his mate's back to try to ease the pain.

Ratchet was grateful for that as it did help a little bit.

The two then started to talk about designations for their sparklings.

* * *

><p>Jazz was lying on the medical berth in one of the examination rooms. He'd already been given the painkillers by Ratchet, and he was pretty sure that he was numb at the moment.<p>

Prowl was sitting right beside his mate, intending to stay by his mate's side throughout all this. Besides, he wanted to be there when his sparklings were born. "How are you feeling, Jazz?" Prowl asked as he gently stroked over Jazz's hand.

"Not bad, actually. Although I can't feel meh legs." Jazz replied.

"That's a good thing, Jazz. It means that the receptors in your lower half have shut down like the painkiller should have made them do." Ratchet then glanced over at First Aid.

"Looks like we're ready to start, Ratchet." First Aid told him after looking over several vitals on both Jazz and the sparklings. They all looked good.

Ratchet then picked up the scalpel that was beside him since Jazz's armored plating over his abdominal plating had been removed the moment that Jazz had been brought. "Just remember that you'll be able to feel what I'm doing, Jazz, but you won't be able to feel a thing."

"I know, doc. Go on." Jazz told him.

"And Prowl-" Ratchet started.

"I know. Stay where I am and don't get in your way." Prowl replied, remembering what his carrier had ordered him to do.

Ratchet nodded.

First Aid, Jolt, and Perceptor were all in the room to help if need be. First Aid was assisting Ratchet, and Jolt was going to handle cleaning up the sparklings and checking on their health the moment that Ratchet removed them. Perceptor was simply there as a backup in case his help was needed, although all of the medics hoped that Perceptor's help was not needed.

Ratchet started to cut into Jazz's protoform right where the gestation chamber was. He cut until he had made an incision large enough to remove the sparklings. With First Aid's help, Ratchet pulled back the metal plating of Jazz's protoform away from the gestation chamber.

:**Jazz, how are you doing?**: Prowl asked.

:**Fine, Prowler. Don't feel any pain. I can feel what they're doin', but don't feel the pain.**: Jazz replied.

Prowl was glad to hear that as he was concerned for his mate's safety.

With the protoform pulled back, Ratchet put the scalpel down and then picked up a scalpel with a smaller blade. He then placed his hand under one of the sacs that held one of the sparklings, and he slowly and carefully started to cut through the sac, being careful to not hit the sparkling. Once the sac was split open, the sparkling started crying. Ratchet quickly pulled the sparkling out and handed him to Jolt.

Prowl got a glimpse of the sparkling and noticed that the sparkling was black and white, much like himself. He also noticed the sparkling had a visor like Jazz. He also noticed that this sparkling had the small stubs that would grow into doorwings.

Ratchet had already turned his attention back to the other sparkling. He repeated the procedure with this one as well. He carefully cut into the sac, taking great care to not cause any injury to the sparkling. Once the sac was split open, Ratchet carefully removed the sparklings. Since the sparkling did not immediately cry out, he cleared the sparkling's intakes and was relieved to hear the loud cry.

Since Jolt was still working with the first sparkling, Perceptor came over and took the second sparkling from the CMO.

Once more, Prowl was able to see this sparkling. He immediately noticed that this sparkling also held the stubs that indicated it would have doorwings as well. He also noticed that this sparkling was completely black with a red chevron.

With the sparklings removed, Ratchet and First Aid immediately started working on repairing the protoform of Jazz.

"Are they all right?" Jazz asked. He had heard his sparklings cry, but he wanted to hear it from them.

"They both appear to be in perfect condition." Perceptor told him.

Jazz was relieved to hear that. He had been concerned about both of them and was glad to hear that his sons were going to be just fine.

"They both have the doorwings." Prowl murmured.

"Really?" Jazz laughed. "When they inherit yer frame type, they inherit everythin', Prowler."

"I guess so." Prowl agreed.

Ratchet and First Aid continued to work to repair Jazz's protoform. It would take bit to do so.

Even as he worked, Ratchet could tell just how hard it was for him to remain in his feet. The moment that the repairs to Jazz were done, he was going to have to get off his feet before he collapsed. Besides, he needed to keep his promise to Optimus of getting some rest.

"Jazz, once the painkillers wear off, I'll warn you that you're going to be in some pain. We can give you some painkillers that will numb the pain without affecting your processors so you can still think clearly. It's not as effective as the ones we've used now, but it'll do the job." Ratchet told him.

"Not problem, doc. I've dealt with pain before. Can't be any worse than how I felt after I gave birth ta Blue." Jazz told him.

Ratchet supposed that that was true. He reached over and picked up the welder to weld the silver mech's protoform back together. Once he was done, he helped Jazz sit up with Prowl's help. "Try not to do too much moving around until the welds settle, Jazz. We'll also keep the armor off your protoform for a few cycles. It'll be better if the welds heal all the way before putting your armor back on."

"Sure thing, doc." Jazz replied.

Perceptor and Jolt then brought the two sparklings over and handed them over to their creators before the two left the room.

First Aid then started to gather the instruments together since they weren't needed any longer.

Jazz had been handed the sparkling with the visor. He smiled down at the sparkling. "Well, looks like this one inherited somethin' from meh."

Prowl smiled. "That's true. He'll have your same mysterious air."

Jazz glanced at Prowl. "Whatcha talkin' 'bout Prowler?"

Prowl smiled. "Jazz, that visor of yours gives you an air of mystery since you keep the visor down. It's one of the first things anybot notices about you, including me."

"Huh. Never knew that." Jazz remarked.

Ratchet smiled as he sat down in the chair in the room. "I hope you two don't mind, but-"

"Nah. Ya family, doc. 'Sides, if twins made my feet hurt that much, can't imagine how hard it had ta be for ya to stay on ya feet for that long." Jazz replied.

Ratchet smiled. "Not easy. I admit that."

"Well, look at this way, Carrier. At least you only have three more groon to go before you have them." Prowl stated.

"More like two. This many means I'll probably have them sooner." Ratchet replied. He glanced at Jazz. "You should feed them."

"Oh. Right." Jazz reopened his chest plates before he brought the sparkling he held up to feed. He watched as his sparkling started to feed. "Still amazes me that they already know what ta do when they're only a few kliks old."

Ratchet smiled. "It's instinct, Jazz. Just like a carrier and sire's instincts when caring for their sparklings. You two found that out quickly with Blue."

"Yes. We did. Amazing how we already knew what to do with a lot of it." Jazz stated.

Ratchet smirked. "Didn't stop you two from comming me in the middle of the night when I'm in recharge because you have a question or because you were freaking out about something."

"Well, at least we won't this time." Jazz said.

"I hope not. I've already had that with Bluestreak and Smokescreen." Ratchet stated.

"So have we." Jazz and Prowl said at the same time.

Ratchet then looked at the sparklings. "So, what did you decide to designate them?"

"I believe that we are going to call this one Shadowblade." Prowl replied, looking down at the solid black sparkling that he was holding.

"And this un is gonna be Nightwalker." Jazz added.

Ratchet smiled. "Good designations."

"Thank you, carrier." Prowl chuckled. "It was nice not having my very spark threatened this time around."

"Was it that bad?" Jazz asked, glancing at his mate.

Ratchet chuckled. "Jazz, you threw some threats at him that I wouldn't even consider using on a patient, not even one as stubborn and hard-helmed as Ironhide."

"Oops." Jazz grinned at his mate. "Sorry, Prowler."

"It's in the past, Jazz. It doesn't matter now." Prowl told him.

Ratchet watched his son and son-in-law with their sparklings and came to the conclusion that he couldn't wait to see his own sparklings for the first time. Although he wasn't looking forward to the pain that came along with giving birth.

* * *

><p>"I just can't believe it! I finally have younger siblings!" Bluestreak was extremely excited to finally have siblings, and he was glad that he was finally able to see them. The grey, excitable Praxian did remember to keep his voice down despite his excitement. He had learned that from having his own creations. "They even have doorwings. And this one has a visor!" Bluestreak was glad to see that some of his carrier's traits had carried over to his siblings as well."<p>

"I know. One of the first things Ah noticed when I saw 'im. Other than doorwings, anyway." Jazz stated. He was currently holding Nightwalker.

Nightwalker hadn't really wanted to leave his carrier that much. He always got whiny and fussy when he was out of his carrier's arms. He didn't even care to be held by Prowl, his own sire.

Shadowblade, on the other hand, would go to anyone as long as he knew his creators trusted them. He seemed to love all of the attention that he was getting from the room full of bots.

"Well, at least one of them is willing to come to me." Starlight stated, smiling at Shadowblade.

Shadowblade looked at her curiously.

"I know." Jazz looked down at Nightwalker, who seemed rather happy that his carrier was holding him. "Can't figure this one out. Blue didn't have their problem. Half the time, Blue wanted the doc over either one of us."

Bluestreak was a little surprised by that. "I did?"

"Sure. Don't you remember how you always wanted to go over to the doc's and stay? Wanted to stay there more than ya wanted to stay with ya sire and meh." Jazz stated.

"Oh yeah." Bluestreak laughed. "Maybe Nightwalker will be like me and want Grand-Carrier a lot."

"Well, has he tried to hold him?" Smokescreen asked, holding a recharging Kickstart in his arms.

"Not yet. Once I was settled, Doc went ta get some rest. Can't blame 'im. Carryin' three sparklings and stayin' on 'is feet so long can't be easy. Pretty sure Prime went to check on 'im by now." Jazz stated.

"I can't say that I blame him." Swiftwind frowned. "Probably wasn't the best thing for him."

"I doubt that Carrier would have done the surgery if he thought it would have endangered him or the sparklings. He might have been in there, but directing First Aid on what to do. He probably just needs some rest." Prowl remarked.

"At least we finally have these darlings to see." Starlight stated, cooing at Shadowblade who laughed.

"He's going to be spoiled fast." Prowl muttered.

"That's the point of being grand-creators, great-grand creators, and so on. We get to spoil them and then send them back to you." Starlight replied.

Jazz and Prowl both groaned.

Sunstreaker laughed. "I say it's poetic justice considering the fact that you said the exact same thing to us."

Jazz sighed. "Suppose we'll have to deal with it. Primus knows you two spoiled Blue, and Doc helped with that."

"I turned out all right in the end." Bluestreak protested.

"I'd say so." Sideswipe shifted Jumpstreak in his arms. "Don't think you could have done better with Blue."

"Thank you, Sideswipe." Prowl only hoped that Jumpstreak and Brightspark, who was happily recharging in his grand-sire's arms, would not turn out to be the way Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were when the black and white Praxian had first met them. That would drive him to insanity.

* * *

><p>Ratchet had to admit that he felt a bit better now that he had laid down on his own berth. His feet were killing him, and he knew that he probably wouldn't get up from the berth for the rest of the cycle.<p>

And the chartreuse mech had a feeling that his mate was going to be acting like a mother hen for the remainder of his carrying period considering how exhausted he had been after the few joor he spent working with Jazz, Shadowblade, and Nightwalker.

Optimus then walked back into their berth room and walked over to Ratchet to hand him a cube of medical grade. "Here, Ratchet."

Ratchet sat up and propped himself up on the pillows that Optimus had piled on the bed. "You do realize that I'm not an invalid, Orion. Just because I am sparked with triplets and am halfway through the last stage does not mean that I can't get things for myself." The medic took the cube of energon from his mate and started to drink it.

"I know that, Ratchet." Optimus stated as he sat down by his mate. "But you have been doing a lot today with Jazz's surgery. You need to rest, and while I'm not a medic like you, I do believe that staying off your feet and getting rest is exactly what you need."

"That is true." Ratchet admitted.

Optimus leaned over and kissed Ratchet on the cheek. "Besides, I believe that you deserve some pampering. In the last three groon, you have delivered six sparklings. I believe it's your turn to get the attention and service a mate." The Prime smiled. "And you won't have to do much now that the others have had their sparklings."

Ratchet snorted. "Orion, I am going to have to do something. I'm going to have to fight off my blasted carrier. Do you have any idea how irritating she can be when one is sparked and in the final stages of carrying? I know that she means well, but she succeeds more in driving me crazy."

"As you say, she means well. And it probably wouldn't hurt to have somebot here with you while I'm working. Let's face it. I can't feasibly take the next two to three groon off to help you the way Hot Shot, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker could have. And you do need the attention." Optimus stated.

"If I need somebot here, I would prefer it be Wheeljack. At least he doesn't drive me crazy. He'll work on the schematics for the next experiment that gets him blasted to pieces while I read." Ratchet stated.

"Are you saying that you would rather have **Wheeljack **staying here with you than any other bot?" Optimus was shocked at that.

"Just because I rant and rave at him when he has his explosions does not mean that I do not love my brother, Orion. Wheeljack is the one I can tolerate because he knows when I'm being pushed to my limits. He knows when to shut up." Ratchet retorted.

Optimus smiled. "Like me."

"Yes. You don't drive me to consider committing murder. I love my carrier, but she doesn't know when she's pushing too hard." Ratchet stated.

Optimus considered that. "Well, we'll see about getting Wheeljack here to keep you company during the day while I'm working."

Ratchet nodded in agreement. "Good. Less of a chance of me snapping and killing somebot."

Optimus knew that he would have to try to have shorted workdays from now one since he couldn't see forcing somebot else to deal with Ratchet in these final cycles of carrying. He might could convince his sire to help him for a bit, and he'd see about Elita and Ironhide giving him a hand for a few groon. He had noticed Ratchet being a bit snappier of late, so he should be the one that Ratchet snapped at.

Oh, these next few groon were going to be fun for the Prime indeed.

* * *

><p>Drop a review and let me know what you thought!<p> 


	18. Chapter 18

Here's the next chapter!

**Just so everyone knows, I'm doing my student teaching for college this coming semester, and I start on Monday, August 13. Updates will most likely be less and on the weekends due to my school work that will need to be done.**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 18<p>

"I feel so useless!" Ratchet groaned from where he was lying on the couch. He had barely left his and Optimus's quarters in the last few breem. He couldn't stand to stay on his feet for too long, which meant that he didn't leave his quarters all that much.

Optimus looked up from the datapad he had been going over. He hated how miserable his mate was in these final cycles of carrying, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. He set the datapads aside and got up to walk over to his mate. He knelt down and gently massaged Ratchet's shoulder. "You're not useless, Ratchet."

Ratchet glanced up at his mate. "When was the last time I actually left our quarters?"

"Ratchet, you're in the last cycles of carrying triplets. I don't think anyone would begrudge you the fact that you need to remain off your feet. Besides, First Aid has kept the medbay in order, although he has started to act like you." Optimus stated.

"Bluestreak mentioned as much when he was here earlier. Something about threatening his patients now." Ratchet smirked. "That's going to end up happening when you deal with a bunch of idiots that tend to get themselves slagged." He glared. "And you're one of the worst ones about that when in a battle with the Decepticons!"

Optimus cringed at that. "Well, no bot else can deal with Megatron, so-"

"You get yourself run through with an energon sword." Ratchet was referring to a few breem ago when he had been hit hard in the chest with Megatron's blade, something that nearly offlined the Prime and sent Ratchet into a panic.

Optimus cringed once more. "Okay. So I could stand to be a little more careful."

"You think." Ratchet sat up. "I don't want to end up raising these three alone, Orion. You are going to have to be more careful out there."

"I will, Ratchet." Optimus murmured. He leaned over and kissed Ratchet on his cheek. "Why don't you go and lay down on the berth, Ratchet? I'm sure that you would be more comfortable there."

Ratchet sighed. "Orion, I honestly don't think that I'm going to be more comfortable wherever I am. I sincerely don't think that it's possible for a bot who is in the final groon of carrying to be comfortable."

Optimus had heard that, but he didn't know for sure considering the fact that he wasn't a carrier. Of course, he never intended to make a comment on how a carrier should feel while carrying considering the fact that that would get him slagged, and not just by his mate.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt for me to go lie down, though." Ratchet stated.

Optimus got back to his feet and helped Ratchet get up since the Prime knew that his mate wasn't able to get up on his own considering all the extra weight that the sparklings had added to the medic's frame.

"I'll be glad when I can actually get on my own two pedes without you having to help me." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus smiled. "It won't be long, Ratchet. Besides, you know that I don't mind."

"So you've said." Ratchet glanced at the Prime. "Do you think you could come with me?"

"Of course." Optimus had gotten used to the fact that Ratchet had been a bit more needy and clingy since Jazz had had Shadowblade and Nightwalker. The red and blue mech attributed Ratchet's change in attitude to the fact that he no longer had any other bots to care for and to the fact that Ratchet was in the final stages of carrying.

The two made their way back into their berth room and over to the berth.

"Sorry about being so clingy lately." Ratchet muttered.

"Don't worry about it, Ratchet. It doesn't bother me." Optimus assured his mate. He knew how much his mate's back had been bothering him in recent cycles, and he also knew that he could help ease the pain a bit through massaging his back and using electromagnetic pulses in his hands. "Would you like me to massage your back, Ratchet?"

That actually sounded like a good idea to Ratchet. His back was killing him, and a massage would help a little bit. "Yes. That would be nice."

Optimus moved so that he was sitting behind Ratchet and so that the medic could lean back against him as he started to gently massage his mate's back at the same time he sent the pulses out.

Ratchet sighed as he felt the pain ease of a slight bit. It wasn't much, but it was something. "Thank you, Orion."

Optimus smiled and gently kissed the back of Ratchet's neck. "No problem." He continued to massage his mate's back in slow, circular motions. "Ratchet, why does this help?"

"It's easing the tension in my back. Similar to how I can ease the tension in your shoulders after you've had a long day. It also takes a bit of the pain off from carrying. The back and feet are what hurt worst besides the tanks." Ratchet stated.

"Speaking of which, you realize that we still haven't come up with a designation for our little femme. We've named both of the mechlings, but we still haven't named the femmeling." Optimus told him.

Ratchet sighed. "I know. I just can't choose between the two designations we've narrowed it down to."

"Me neither." Optimus considered it for a moment. "Maybe it'll come to us when she's born."

"With any luck." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus had put off telling him, but figured that there wasn't a choice but to tell him. "I have a meeting that I have to be in tomorrow. I'm afraid I'll probably be gone when you come out of recharge, and I may be gone until late afternoon."

"I understand, Orion." Ratchet then thought of something. He knew that his mate tended to already have someone in mind to stay with him when the Prime knew he wouldn't be able to be with Ratchet or be on call at a moment's notice. "Orion, who have you gotten to stay with me tomorrow?"

Optimus smiled. "Jazz and Smokescreen both have the cycle off tomorrow. Jazz'll be here in the morning when I leave. He'll have Shadowblade and Nightwalker with him. Smokescreen said he'd come by later on. Probably with Windblazer and Kickstart."

"Good. I don't know if I could stand having my carrier staying with me all cycle. I might end up committing a murder if I could get to my feet." Ratchet then thought of something. "For that matter, being forced to spend most of the cycle with your carrier probably would drive me to murder."

"I know that they can be a little hard to deal with at times, Ratchet, but you realize that it's just because they are worried about you and the sparklings." Optimus stated.

"I know, Orion. But they are so overbearing!" Ratchet groaned.

Optimus kissed Ratchet's neck again. "I know, Ratchet. This is the first time my carrier's become a grand-carrier. He's a little excited. And I believe a little nervous."

Ratchet sighed. "I just wish they wouldn't drive me crazy in the process. I can handle Wheeljack's constant suicide attempts better than I can handle Carrier and Alpha Trion's constant mothering."

Optimus smiled. He knew just how overbearing his carrier could be, which was why he had made sure to not ask them to remain with Ratchet. He would have been murdered by his mate when he got back to their quarters.

* * *

><p>Ratchet came out of recharge the next morning from the fact that the three sparklings he was carrying were extremely active and kicking him a great deal to find that he was alone in the berth, though he had already known that his mate would be gone when he came out of recharge. He could hear the TV in the living room on to what sounded like a cartoon. He could also hear the sounds of chirping and clicking that meant there were sparklings in the room.<p>

Ratchet slowly sat up and turned to let his feet tangle over the edge of the berth. He took a moment before he rose to his feet. He then headed over to the door and walked out to find that the TV was on a cartoon. Nightwalker was sitting there watching it while Shadowblade was buys playing with a few toys. Jazz was sitting in the floor with his creations as he watched them.

Jazz turned and smiled at the medic. "Hey, doc. Glad ta see ya awake. Hope we didn' bother ya. Been tryin' to keep meh little ones quiet so they didn' disturb ya. Know how much rest ya need in the final groon of carrying."

"You didn't bother me, Jazz." Ratchet assured the silver saboteur as the medic made his way over to the energon dispenser with medical grade energon. "Not like I could keep recharging when these three decided they wanted to have a wrestling match."

Jazz laughed. "Ah know the feeling. Felt like Shadowblade and Nightwalker were usin' meh tanks as a punchin' bag at times."

"That's how I feel now." Ratchet stated. He walked over and sat down on the couch. "By the way, you're the third-in-command of the Autobot army. How is it that you managed to get out of this meeting that was taking place today?"

Jazz grinned. "'Cause my mate's tha second-in-command, and my carrier-in-law's new mate is the commander. Prime just told tha higher ups that sparklin' need their carrier a lot in their first few years of life, so Ah wouldn't be at all meetings, but that Ah'd be caught up. Prowler'll makes meh read the minutes of the meetin', and he'll give meh a rundown of what happened. Won't miss a thing." The silver mech shrugged. "'Sides, figured meh bein' here would be better than ya killin' ya carrier and ya carrier-in-law."

"That much is true. As much as I love Alpha Trion and Carrier, they are too overbearing." Ratchet stated.

"Ah know that with Starlight. Thought Ah was gonna kill her. Smokey and Blue feel tha same way. We know it's simply because she worries, but it's maddening. Guess that's why Ah didn't mind ya bein' around. Ya knew how far ta go and when ta back off." Jazz stated.

"Simply because I have been there, and I know what drives me insane. I don't want to be what drives you insane, either." Ratchet stated.

Nightwalker had ended up losing interest in the cartoon he was watching as he crawled over to where his grand-carrier. He then reached up like he wanted Ratchet to pick him.

Jazz picked up his son and placed him in Ratchet's lap since he knew it would be difficult for Ratchet to get him.

"Thanks, Jazz." Ratchet smiled down at Nightwalker. "It looks like you're going to be like your big brother and want me a great deal."

"Yeah. Nighty doesn't like it when I leave 'im for too long. Doesn't care to go to anyone 'sides me. Prefers me ta Prowl most of the time, too." Jazz stated.

"You know sparklings tend to latch on to their carriers, Jazz." Ratchet sated.

"Blue latched on ta ya, not meh. Shadowblade actually prefers Prowl most of the time." Jazz laughed. "I got a feelin' he's gonna be just like his sire."

"Nothing wrong with that, Jazz." Ratchet stated.

"Ah know, doc." Jazz picked up Shadowblade. "I think another Prowl will be ah great thing."

Shadowblade smiled up at his carrier.

Ratchet winced as he felt his sparklings kick him again. "These three have their sire's strength. I swear Prowl and Smokescreen didn't hurt this much."

"Ya only had twins that time, too, doc. Ya got three this time." Jazz pointed.

"Thank you, Jazz. I hadn't noticed." Ratchet glared at him.

Jazz grinned. "Sorry."

Nightwalker looked at his grand-carrier in confusion. He knew that he had heard that noise, but he wasn't entirely sure he knew what it was.

"So, ya ready to have them yet?" Jazz asked.

"I've been ready for the last groon, Jazz. It'll be nice to not have all this weight on me. And I'll be glad to not have my tanks kicked and punched at all hours of the night." Ratchet stated.

"Yeah. I was glad that stopped, too." Jazz agreed.

The sparklings kicked Ratchet again, causing a loud clank in the room.

Ratchet sighed. "I wish reasoning with them to not kick would work, but it's never worked for me."

"Yeah. Learned that, too." Jazz agreed.

Nightwalker leaned forward and tapped against his grand-carrier's chest plates. He was only a few groon old, meaning that he couldn't hit hard on any level.

Ratchet glanced down at his grand-creation in a bit of shocked.

"Did he just-" Jazz started.

A clank followed Nightwalker's tap, which was obviously from the sparklings. Nightwalker then tapped against Ratchet's chest plates again and received a replying clank.

Jazz laughed. "Looks like Nightwalker just found a way to communicate with tha sparklin' doc."

Ratchet winced as the sparklings kicked him again. "And I'm the one who pays the price for it." He really wanted them to stop, but decided that he wouldn't ruin Nightwalker's fun. He just couldn't bring himself to make his grand-creation stop.

Jazz smirked. "Guess it's hard on ya, huh, doc."

"A bit."

"Ya could make 'im stop." Jazz offered.

"I know I could, Jazz, but he would think he's done something wrong, and he really hasn't." Ratchet leaned back against the couch while Nightwalker continued communicating with the three sparklings.

"Suppose so." Jazz agreed. He watched as his son continued tapping against Ratchet's chest plates. "Well, he hasn't spent much time around a sparked bot, so I guess this is new to 'im."

"Hmm. I'll be glad when I do have them. It means none of them could do this anymore." Ratchet stated.

Jazz laughed at that.

Ratchet then felt a rather powerful kick hit him. He was about to have to make Nightwalker stop because the sparklings were starting to hurt when they kicked him. It was then that he felt a particularly painful movement, and he instantly felt the feeling of liquid seeping within his chest plates. He gasped as he leaned over.

"Doc, ya okay?" Jazz jumped up with Shadowblade his arms.

Nightwalker looked up worried.

Ratchet took a deep breath. "Jazz, can you interrupt the meeting Orion's in?"

"Uh, I could, but Prowler said not to interrupt unless it was of vital importance." Jazz replied.

"Does me being labor count?" Ratchet asked.

"I'm sure it wou-" Jazz trailed off as his visor lit up in shock. "You're in labor!" He hadn't meant to shout because it ended up making Nightwalker and Shadowblade start crying. "Ah'm sorry, guys." Jazz then sent a comm to Smokescreen. :_Smokescreen, I need ya to come ta doc's quarters._:

:_I was heading there now. Thought our sparklings could play together. Everything okay?_: Smokescreen asked.

:_Doc's in labor._: Jazz told him.

:_What?!_: Smokescreen was shocked.

:_I need ya here ta watch Nightwalker and Shadowblade for meh so that I can help doc to tha infirmary._: Jazz stated.

:_Sure thing._: Smokescreen replied.

Jazz turned to Ratchet. "Smokescreen's on his way to watch them for meh. I'll help ya to the infirmary."

Ratchet nodded as another painful contraction hit.

Jazz hoped Smokescreen hurried. He set Shadowblade and Nightwalker in the floor as he helped Ratchet to his feet. :_First Aid, Ratchet's in labor. I'm helping him to the infirmary now._:

:_All right, Jazz. I'm here. We'll be ready for when he gets here._: First Aid replied.

:_Thanks, Aid._: Jazz then cut the link.

A few moments later, Smokescreen arrived with Windblazer and Kickstart in his arms. "Go on, Jazz. I've got 'em."

"Thanks, Smokey." Jazz started to help Ratchet out the door with an arm around the medic to help him since he knew Ratchet was in a lot of pain.

Ironhide happened to be walking by. "Hey! What's going on?"

"Ironhide, you can handle his weight. Get him to the infirmary. He's gone into labor." Jazz told him.

Ironhide's optics widened. "Sure thing." He walked over and easily lifted Ratchet into his arms. "Just don't tell Prime I was carryin' ya."

Ratchet growled. "Cut with comedy and get me to the infirmary!"

Ironhide jumped before rushing for the infirmary. He really didn't like the fact that he was being yelled at, and he wasn't even the one who got Ratchet sparked in the first place. Once he was in the infirmary, he looked at First Aid to know where to put him.

First Aid was taken off guard to see Ironhide come in with Ratchet, but quickly shook it off. "Room A." He pointed at the room as he said it.

Ironhide turned and immediately entered the room, setting Ratchet down on the berth.

"I'm assuming Prime is on his way." First Aid stated.

"He'd better be, or I'll rip out his fragging spark!" Ratchet snarled.

Ironhide and First Aid both cringed as they both silently thought that they were glad that they were not Optimus at this moment.

* * *

><p>Optimus was glad that they had broken for a break. He swore that human bureaucracy and human thinking nearly drove him mad. He needed breaks from their constant arguments and constant demands. One would think that the Autobots contributed nothing to the cause and the humans did everything.<p>

Prowl glanced at his commanding officer. "How are you doing, sir?"

"I have a processor ache, and we're going to have to be here for at least four or five more joor. I will not make it." Optimus replied. He took a sip of his energon, wishing it was high grade.

To the shock of the two mechs, Jazz suddenly came running in.

"Jazz, what are you doing here? You have the cycle off." Prowl frowned. "And where are Shadowblade and Nightwalker?"

"Smokey has them." Jazz then turned his focus to Optimus. "Prime, ya got ta go to tha infirmary."

"One good reason." Optimus told him.

"Doc just went into labor, and 'Hide's taking him there." Jazz replied.

"Prowl, handle it." Optimus was gone a second later.

Jazz watched him go. "Ya know, I don't think he even moves that fast when he's in tha middle of a battle wit' Megatron."

"Agreed." Prowl murmured.

"Hey! Where'd Optimus go?" Mearing demanded.

Prowl turned to her. "I apologize, Director Mearing. Ratchet has just gone into labor, and as Ratchet's mate and the sire of the sparklings, Optimus wishes to be there."

"I understand. I assume you'll be handling the remainder of the meeting." Mearing stated.

"Yes." Prowl glanced at Jazz. "I'm assuming Jazz will help me."

"Sure thing. I'll just let Smokey know he can take Shadow and 'Walker to ya grand-creators ta watch 'em if he needs ta." Jazz stated.

"Very well." Mearing turned to speak to an associate.

:_Smokey, I'm stayin' at this meetin'. If ya don't wanna watch Shadow 'Walker, then ya can take 'em to Starlight and Swiftwind. I'm sure they'll watch 'em for meh._: Jazz told him.

:_Not a problem, Jazz._: Smokescreen replied.

Jazz took his place by Prowl once the meeting started again.

* * *

><p>Ratchet released a painful keen as a powerful contraction hit. He tightened his hands so tightly around the edges of the berth that he actually put dents into them.<p>

Ironhide stood at the edge of the room, a bit fearful. He had been afraid to try to get past Ratchet to get out of the room. Normal pissed off Ratchet was scary enough. In labor pissed off Ratchet was enough to make Ironhide wish to face Devastator one-on-one.

A moment later, Optimus rushed into the room.

"Where in the Pit have you been?!" Ratchet snarled.

Optimus cringed slightly as he moved to Ratchet's side and took one of the medic's hands in his own. "I'm sorry. Jazz just found me and told me."

"I'm, uh, gonna go." Ironhide got out of the room before Ratchet started threatening to rip his spark out the way he had already threatened Optimus's.

First Aid was glad that Optimus was now there. Maybe he wouldn't be the one that Ratchet threatened anymore. The young medic had to admit that he was more than a little uneasy about the fact that he was the one who would be doing the delivery considering the fact he had never done this on his own before. Back on Cybertron, he would have had a trained medic there just in case something went wrong. In this case, the only medic that could have helped him was the one currently in labor. Which meant First Aid was well and truly on his own with this one.

Jolt and Perceptor, having been trained by Ratchet and being the only other ones on the base that would be able to help First Aid, were there as well.

Perceptor was the one keeping an optic on Ratchet's spark rate. He noticed that Ratchet's spark rate was elevated slightly, but not enough to alarm them. He knew that there was always the possibility of elevated spark rate due to the pain and exertion the carrier went through in order to deliver the sparkling. Or in this case sparklings. As long as Ratchet's spark rate didn't rise too high, there was no reason for Perceptor to say anything and alarm anybot, particularly Optimus.

First Aid did a check on Ratchet and found that Ratchet was already fully dilated. He also noted that one of the sparklings had already completely torn through the sac surrounding it and was already in the birthing canal. The second sparkling had almost completely torn through the sac it was encased in, and the third sparkling was still tearing through the sac it was in.

First Aid remembered Ratchet telling him that there were some who could go into labor and be ready to deliver in less than a joor. Ratchet had also told the young medic that there were also those who would not be ready to deliver for five and six joor at times. Suffice it to say, Ratchet was in the former group, which might be a good thing in this case.

Ratchet felt another powerful contraction wrack his frame. He tightened his hand so hard around Optimus's that the Prime's fingers were dented.

Optimus barely hid his wince of pain. He had a sneaking suspicion that the pain Ratchet had caused was nothing compared to the pain that his mate was currently in. And Optimus had no intention of doing anything to piss his mate off at the moment. He didn't want to end up like Sideswipe with a broken cheek strut because he had said the wrong thing to his in-labor mate. The Prime had decided just to take everything Ratchet said and forget about it. Besides, crushed fingers could easily be repaired.

Ratchet had forgotten just how painful labor was. It had been a long, long, long time since he had had Prowl and Smokescreen. Long enough to already have a grand-creation who was bonded and a creator himself. He cast one of the worst glares he had ever had at his mate. "So help me, if you even think of touching me again, I am going to rip your spark out! With your own hand!"

Optimus cringed at that. He knew that Ratchet didn't mean it, but he never liked his mate's threats being thrown at him. Particularly when Ratchet went into some of his more detailed threats like he had heard Ratchet utter to Wheeljack, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker.

Ratchet barely held in the scream at the next powerful contraction.

"Ratchet, you're ready to push." First Aid told the CMO as First Aid moved to Ratchet's feet.

Optimus was rather surprised as he knew it had been a while before Bluestreak and Smokescreen had ended up ready to push. Although the Prime wasn't going to question a miracle when he was faced with one.

Ratchet nodded to show First Aid that he understood.

:_Perceptor, let me know if his spark rate drops or skyrockets. I don't want to take any chances._: First Aid told him.

:_Understood._: Perceptor replied.

:_Jolt, when the first sparkling is born, you're going to take it and make sure it's completely healthy._: First Aid said.

:_I will._: Jolt replied.

First Aid was the one left with the hardest part. Well, on the medic's end of things. After seeing Bluestreak and Smokescreen in labor, First Aid had come to the conclusion that the carrier was the one who had the hardest part when in labor.

First Aid moved the blanket back to Ratchet's knees as he moved Ratchet's legs to the position they needed to be in. He knew Ratchet knew what he needed to do, but First Aid knew that Ratchet would lecture him on proper actions of a medic later on if he didn't do this as if Ratchet knew nothing about being in labor. "Ratchet, on the next contraction, I need you to push as hard as you can."

Ratchet nodded his understanding.

Optimus suddenly felt very nervous. Not because of the threats he was sure were to be thrown at him, but because he was going to see his creations before long. He had been fine up until this moment, and now it was finally sinking in that he was a sire and was about to be responsible for three more lives.

Ratchet felt a powerful contraction hit him, and he pushed as hard as he could, squeezing his mate's hand in the process.

Optimus winced, but wisely said noting as he held Ratchet's hand.

"Stop." First Aid told him.

Ratchet did as he was told, venting harshly.

Optimus gently rubbed Ratchet's shoulder, hating how much pain his mate was in, but knowing that there was nothing he could do about it. "You're doing great, Ratchet."

"Shut up!" Ratchet growled as he glared at his mate. "Just shut up before I rip your vocalizers out!"

Optimus cringed at the angered growl. The worst part was that the Prime knew Ratchet would do as he threatened to do. And he certainly didn't want that to end up happening.

Another contraction hit.

"Ratchet, push!" First Aid ordered.

Ratchet did as he was told, pushing as hard as he could. He could feel the sparkling moving further down his valve. With that knowledge, the medic pushed even harder, releasing a cry as he felt the sparkling's helm crown.

"Keep pushing." First Aid told him.

Ratchet did so, feeling it as the sparkling's helm emerged from his valve and was quickly followed by the rest of the sparkling's frame.

First Aid caught the sparkling before he cleared the sparkling's intakes, getting a loud cry in the process.

The cry drew Optimus's attention to the sparkling. He saw that the sparkling was one of the mechlings. He also noticed that the sparkling was mostly blue with streaks of greenish-yellow throughout its frame. It also possessed Optimus's finials on his helm, although the finials were red instead of blue.

First Aid handed the sparkling over to Jolt before he turned his attention back to Ratchet. There were still two sparklings to deliver.

Jolt took the sparkling to clean him up and check over its systems to make sure that he was healthy.

First Aid checked on the progress of the other two sparklings and found that the second one was already halfway down the birthing canal while the other one was close to entering the canal "Ratchet, push."

Ratchet did so, keening at the pain that hit him. He had so forgotten just how hard and how painful this was.

Optimus kept his lips shut as Ratchet squeezed his hand again. He was definitely going to need some repair work done.

Ratchet continued to push as hard as he could manage and soon felt it as the helm crowned, causing another cry to escape from him. He continued pushing though, knowing that he needed to.

First Aid caught the second sparkling to emerge, which was the femme. He quickly cleared her intakes as well before handing her over to Jolt.

Optimus, once more, looked over at his and Ratchet's second sparkling. He saw that it was the femme. She was light green in color and it looked like she may have inherited doorwings from the little nubs that Optimus saw.

First Aid was glad that they were almost through. There was only one sparkling left to deliver, and this one was already in the birthing canal. "Ratchet, the last sparkling is already in the birthing canal. When you feel the next contraction, push as hard as you can."

Ratchet finally remembered why some carriers made the statement that they couldn't push anymore. He was beyond exhausted and wasn't sure that he would manage to do it. But he knew that he had to, so there was no point in saying it. He gritted his denta as he pushed as hard as his exhausted frame could manage.

Optimus could feel through their bond just how tired Ratchet was. He was worried that his mate wouldn't manage to deliver the last one on his own. He held Ratchet's hand and gently rubbed Ratchet's shoulder, offering what little comfort he could to his mate.

First Aid could see that the sparkling had made some progress down the canal, but he knew that it would take a couple of more pushes for the sparkling to fully emerge from its carrier. "Ratchet, push again."

Ratchet did as told, praying this sparkling would get out of him fast. He wasn't sure just how much longer he could do this.

As First Aid had thought, after another push, the sparkling fully emerged from its carrier. He quickly cleared the sparkling's intakes and was relieved to hear the loud cry from him. The medic then handed the last sparkling over to Jolt before he turned his attention back to Ratchet.

Ratchet, for his part, had already collapsed back against the berth, exhausted. He probably would have gone immediately into recharge if it wasn't for the fact that his carrier protocols were already urging him to feed his sparklings, meaning he wouldn't be able to rest until he knew that the three had been well-fed.

Optimus looked over and noticed that their last sparkling was red with orange flames on its chest.

Perceptor, seeing that Ratchet's spark rate wasn't so high that they should be concerned, went to help Jolt with the three sparklings. "How are they?" Perceptor asked lowly. If something was wrong, he didn't want to immediately alarm Ratchet and Optimus until they knew what was wrong.

"All three of them seem to be perfectly healthy." Jolt replied even as he checked the last sparkling's systems. He was glad of that.

First Aid had gone about post-delivery procedures of flushing out Ratchet's gestation chamber of remaining fluids as well as cleaning the medic up.

"You did it." Optimus murmured, gently stroking Ratchet's arms.

Ratchet sighed. "I know."

After a few moments, First Aid, Jolt, and Perceptor brought the three sparklings over to their creators.

"They're all perfectly healthy." Jolt said as he handed the red and chartreuse mechling over to Ratchet.

Ratchet was relieved to hear that as he easily cradled the sparkling to his chest.

The sparkling, sensing that it was in its carrier's arms, became calmer than it had been the entire time since it was born.

First Aid and Perceptor then handed the other two sparklings over to Optimus before they left the new creators alone with their creations for a bit.

Ratchet knew that they needed to be fed, so he held the sparkling in his arms close to the feeding nub next to his spark chamber, and the sparklings soon was feeding.

Optimus had witnessed other carriers feeding their sparklings before, and it had always been an amazing and awing sight to him, but watching his mate feeding their sparkling made it even more so.

A comfortable silence fell over them as Ratchet forced himself to remain online to feed their sparklings while Optimus simply watched in adoration.

The two sparklings in Optimus's arms became rather fussy. The Prime tried to calm them down without much success.

"They're hungry, Orion. They won't calm down until I've managed to feed them." Ratchet smiled. "Unfortunately, I can only feed one of them at a time."

"I suppose so." Optimus agreed. He looked at the three of them. "You know, after seeing her, I think we should call our femme Nova."

Ratchet glanced at the light green femme before he nodded in agreement. "An excellent idea, Optimus. I think that designation will suit her perfectly."

Optimus nodded before he came to a new issue. "Which mech will be named what?"

Ratchet laughed lightly. "Orion, the mechling you're holding looks like one of the vehicles humans refer to as hot rods. Since we had agreed on that designation, I think that one should be called Hot Rod."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "Then you're holding little Ricochet."

Ratchet nodded.

Once Ricochet had been satisfied, Ratchet handed Ricochet to Optimus and took Nova to feed her.

Optimus then realized something. "You know, I never bothered letting any of our creators know that you were in labor."

Ratchet chuckled. "Well, I'm sure that Jazz or Smokescreen one let them know. Besides, Wheeljack was the one who told them I was in labor when I had Prowl and Smokescreen. I have the excuse of being in too much pain to think of telling them. And you were probably far too panicky to consider letting them know."

Optimus smiled. "That is true."

"I'm sure they'll understand, Orion." Ratchet smiled. "Besides, enjoy this peace we have at the moment. Once they do find out and get here, we're not going to have a moment's peace for quite some time."

Optimus nodded. "I had already seen that one coming, Ratchet."

"That's a good thing." Once Nova was through, Ratchet then took Hot Rod to feed him.

Optimus enjoyed this quiet, peaceful time with his mate and sparklings. He had noticed that Ricochet and Nova were already starting to drift into recharge. He was rather certain that Hot Rod would be going into recharge soon as well, and he didn't doubt that Ratchet would end up needing recharge soon as well.

* * *

><p>"They are so adorable!" Aloha Trion cooed at Nova, who was currently in his arms.<p>

Nova seemed rather happy as she was clicking rather excitedly. She appeared to love all of the attention that she was being smothered with. She had been passed around between a few family members already, and the femmeling appeared to be thrilled at all of the attention.

Ricochet, who was currently and Wheeljack's arms, seemed rather happy with all the attention as well. He clicked and chirped in a happy manner.

Hot Rod had turned out to be a lot like Nightwalker in the fact that he preferred to be in his carrier's arms, although he was content to be with his sire as well. Hot Rod just got upset when another would try to take him from one of his creators.

"And Nova is going to be beyond spoiled being the only femme sparkling on the base." Prowl remarked.

Elita laughed. "I believe that they are all going to be spoiled, Prowl. They're all the first sparklings in a long, long time. Everybot on base is going to end up spoiling them rotten."

"That I don't doubt." Ratchet glanced at his creators. "You two did a good job of trying to spoil Prowl and Smokescreen when they were that young."

Starlight grinned. "That is a grand-creator's right, Ratchet. You did spoil Bluestreak. Perhaps not to the level we spoiled Smokescreen and Prowl, but you did let him get away with things that you would not have allowed Prowl and Smokescreen to get away with."

"I am well aware of that, Carrier." Ratchet stated.

Skyfire sighed. "Then I suppose when Wheeljack and I do finally have creations of our own, we have that to look forward to.

Ratchet grinned. "Yep."

Starlight turned Wheeljack. "Are you two thinking having one?"

Wheeljack immediately looked alarmed. "No! No! Not until this war is over!"

"Ah, come on, Wheeljack." Bluestreak took Ricochet from Wheeljack. "It's not that bad. And if we can handle a war and raising sparklings, then so can you."

"And you don't have an option at the moment." Skyfire added.

Wheeljack turned to face Skyfire, his helm fins lit up white in shock. "Y-y-you're-"

"Yes. I am." Skyfire replied.

**CRASH!**

Wheeljack fainted.

All of the sparklings merely looked at Wheeljack curiously, wondering why he had suddenly fallen in the floor like that.

"Well, that was a bit unexpected." Skyfire wasn't sure how to handle this one considering the fact his mate was currently unconscious on the floor.

Swiftwind laughed outright. "Reminds me of my reaction when Starlight told me she was sparked with Ratchet and Wheeljack."

"I had the same reaction." Nemesis added.

"At least it's not a completely unusual occurrence." Ratchet stated. He shook his helm. "Somehow, this reaction does not surprise me."

Optimus chuckled. "Apparently, we're adding another sparkling to the group already here."

"Indeed."Starlight smiled as she hugged Skyfire. "And I'm finally getting a grand-creationout of one of my other creations."

Elita got the sinking feeling that she would be pestered by her carrier a lot now to have a sparkling of her own.

* * *

><p>"You realize that you won't recharge well in that chair." Ratchet murmured. He was halfway to recharge curled up on his side facing his mate.<p>

Optimus was seated in the chair at his mate's side. "I know, Ratchet, but I wanted to stay here. One night won't hurt." He smiled. "And I'm sure that I'll be just fine."

The three sparklings were curled up together in a crib by the berth, in recharge.

Considering the fact that his family was in the medical room, there was no chance that Optimus was going to leave. He'd settle for one night of an uncomfortable recharge to remain beside his mate and sparklings.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you think.<p>

This story is almost over. Just one or two more chapters left. Haven't decided yet.


	19. Chapter 19

Here's the next chapter!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 19<p>

The feel of lips on his neck drew the Prime out of recharge, though he didn't online his optics. He could feel his mate's hands drifting over his frame in a gentle motion that wasn't meant to arouse him, but to wake him up. "You're up early." Optimus murmured.

Ratchet chuckled right in his mate's audio receptors. "When you spend the last six stellar cycles caring for three sparklings plus the times when my grand-creations and great-grand creations stayed with us, one does not recharge late. I expect to be woken up by the cries of sparklings, even though they are younglings now."

Optimus turned in the berth, onlining his optics as he did so, to look his mate in the optics. "Are you saying that you want to have more sparklings already, Ratchet?"

"No. Our three just entered younglinghood. I'm going to enjoy not being woken up in the middle of the night every night." Ratchet replied.

Optimus wrapped his arms around Ratchet's waist before he pulled his mate on top of him so that Ratchet was straddling him. "I like that idea, too." He leaned forward and kissed Ratchet's neck. "It'll give me a little more time alone with you."

Ratchet laughed. "One would think that you went the last six stellar cycles without interfacing at all."

"Hmm. Not as much time, though." Optimus replied.

"True, but part of that came from the fact that we were still at war. It meant you were either in discussions about battles, planning battles, tracking Decepticons, or fighting in battles. Now that the war is over, we'll have more time for each other and our family." Ratchet told him.

Optimus nodded in agreement. "That is true. I will have more time for our family now that the Decepticons have been defeated."

After the battle in Chicago, Sentinel's defeat, and the defeat of the Decepticons, things had settled down a great deal for the Autobots. They were able to adapt to normal lives that did not involve constant battle that led to fear that a bot might not live to see the next klik.

In fact, many of the bots, like Jazz and Blaster, had started their own business. The two music loving mechs had started a DJ business and catered to parties a lot. It was something that both mechs enjoyed and had become good at. Others, like Prowl and Inferno, had decided to aid in the every cycle lives of human through aiding the government service aids such as the police force and the fire department. Even the Protectobots had started to aid with those services as they found their talents needed there.

There were some who preferred to remain on the base, though. Red Alert still held a distinct distrust of humans, which wasn't unusual for him. Others, like Mirage, still just didn't like that Cybertron was gone and chose to remain with their own kind.

"You know, we need to go on a vacation." Optimus said.

Ratchet looked at his mate, a little shocked. "That was sudden."

"Come on, Ratchet. You haven't been on a vacation in a long time. Neither of us have, and we both could use a break. We could go somewhere with Hot Rod, Ricochet, and Nova. I'm sure that they would love going somewhere else." Optimus told him.

"I know that they would. You realize that the rest of my brood is going to want to tag along." Ratchet told him.

"It's a family vacation, Ratchet. I won't care." Optimus assured him.

Ratchet smiled. "I suppose we can start planning one. Though it might want to be after the new arrivals get settled in. No need in their Prime rushing off right after they get here." Ratchet stated.

The Autobots had received word of a ship with other Autobots and those who had remained neutral was heading for Earth. The ship was commanded by Ultra Magnus, an old friend of Optimus's. All of the Autobots were looking forward to seeing their old comrades once again. Prowl had calculated that the ship should arrive the following week, meaning that preparations for their arrival were well under way.

"I know that, Ratchet. We can go ahead and plan the getaway though." Optimus laughed. "The only thing is that Magnus might want to tag along."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea, Orion. After all, it would give Ultra Magnus the chance to see more of the planet." Ratchet told him.

"Agreed." Optimus leaned up and kissed Ratchet again. "So, where would you want to go?"

"I honestly don't know." Ratchet replied. His audio receptors picked up on the noise of their younglings. "And I believe that it something to discuss later." He moved off of his mate to sit on the berth beside him just as their door opened and their three younglings ran in, climbing onto the berth with their creators.

"Good morning, you three." Ratchet told them with a smile.

"Morning, Sire. Morning, Carrier." The three told them.

"And how did you three recharge?" Optimus asked.

"Great! Can we see Jetfire and Jetstorm?" Nova asked.

Jetfire and Jetstorm were the split-spark twins that Skyfire had given birth to. The two loved playing with all of the other younglings on the base, all of whom were family.

"We'll see. Right now, we need to have our morning energon." Ratchet told them.

The three younglings nodded before they jumped down and headed into the kitchen.

Optimus and Ratchet then got out of the berth as well and headed into kitchen to get energon for their creations and for themselves.

* * *

><p>Ratchet was busy working in the medbay, getting all of his tools arranged. He would need to do full checkups on all of the new arrivals. He just wanted to be sure that they were in optimal condition while also getting a start on their medical files.<p>

Since First Aid had had the cycle off and Optimus had Jolt aiding in some other work, that left Ratchet alone to handle all of the checkups, though it shouldn't be too bad for the medic to handle.

A moment later, a little red and orange youngling entered the room. "Carrier!"  
>Ratchet turned at the sound of his son's voice. He smiled at the little mechling before kneeling down in front of him. "What is it, Hot Rod?"<p>

"Carrier, can I go with Sire to meet the new arrivals?" Hot Rod asked. He was looking up at his carrier with a pleading look. It was a Cybertronian version of the puppy dog eyes look that humans seemed to use when they wanted to get something.

Hot Rod probably used that look on Optimus, Ratchet mused. He knew his mate well enough to know that if their younglings turned that look on their sire, he couldn't say no to them. Meaning that Ratchet was the disciplinarian and the one that the ultimate answer came from.

"Please, Carrier." Hot Rod begged.

Ratchet sighed. "Have you asked your sire?"

"Yes. He said to ask you." Hot Rod answered.

Ratchet had figured that much. He should have known his mate would leave this ultimate decision to him. "All right, Hot Rod. You can go."

"Yes!" Hot Rod instantly hugged his carrier's legs. "Thank you, Carrier!"

Ratchet smiled. "Just remember to stay with your sire at all times, and don't run off."

"I won't, Carrier." Hot Rod then ran out of the medbay, probably to find his sire and tell him that he could go, too.

Ratchet shook his helm as he turned his attention back to the tools he needed.

"Hey, Ratch!"

Ratchet turned to face his brother. "What is it, Wheeljack?"

"Prowl said that the ship should arrive in about three joor. Optimus and the others are getting ready to head out." Wheeljack stated.

"I heard, Wheeljack." Ratchet smiled. "My mate is Optimus, after all. Besides, Hot Rod came here asking me if he could go with Optimus to meet them."

Wheeljack laughed. "Doesn't surprise me. We both know how much Hot Rod looks up to Optimus."

"Indeed." Ratchet frowned. "Which is why I hate how much Ricochet looks up to you."

"Come on. Why is it a bad thing that Ricochet has an enthusiasm for science?" Wheeljack asked as he hopped on one of the medical berths to sit.

"That's not the bad part. I'm just afraid that Ricochet may pick up your habit of setting off explosions." Ratchet retorted.

"Oh." Wheeljack rubbed the back of his helm. "Not sure that there's much I can say to calm your nerves there. No telling what kind of scientist he'll become."

Ratchet sighed. "In any case, Wheeljack, where are Nova and Ricochet? I know that they were both with your two."

"Oh! They're still with Sky. You know how my mate is. He loves sparklings." Wheeljack laughed. "Considering the fact that he's watched every sparkling on this base at one time before, that's an understatement."

"Indeed. Managing eleven sparklings at one time cannot be easy, but Skyfire most certainly managed it." Ratchet stated.

"So, ya ready for the physicals?" Wheeljack asked.

"Of course I am. As long as I have cooperative patients, everything will go smoothly." Ratchet replied.

Wheeljack smiled behind his blast mask. He hoped that all of the bots on the ship were ones that had dealt with Ratchet before. Otherwise, there were some bots who were going to be introduced to Ratchet's form of medicine. And that wasn't a good thing for ones who had never been in Ratchet's care before.

* * *

><p>Optimus stood in the forest where the ship was scheduled to land. He was looking forward to seeing Ultra Magnus again as he had not seen the mech in a long time. He and Ultra Magnus had known each other since before Optimus became rime, and the mech was more like a brother to Optimus.<p>

Hot Rod was busy wandering around the forest. He enjoyed seeing different areas of Earth, and it wasn't often that he was able to see the forest. He had already busied himself with collecting rocks that were large by human standards, but small by Cybertronian standards.

Optimus was keeping a close optic on his son, making sure Hot Rod didn't wander too far. As long as his son stayed within his sights, the Prime wasn't worried about him. But it never hurt to remind his strong-willed son of that. "Hot Rod, don't wander too far."

"I won't, Sire." Hot Rod told him.

Lennox looked up at Optimus. "Worried about what Ratchet would do to you if he got lost."

"Worried about Hot Rod himself." Optimus answered. He chuckled. "Though fear of Ratchet does play a part in that."

Lennox understood that. He'd probably run away in fear if he ever lost Annabelle. Even though he would find her, he wouldn't want to have to face his wife's anger at losing her in the first place.

Prowl glanced up at the sky before he rechecked his calculations. "We have fifteen minutes before the ship will arrive, Optimus."

"Very well, Prowl." Optimus trusted his SIC's calculations enough to know that if Prowl said that they would be here in fifteen minutes, then he knew that they would be here in fifteen minutes.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, the ship came into view.

"Right as always, Prowlie." Epps said.

Prowl growled as his doorwings hitched up. "I have asked you not to call me that, Epps."

Epps grinned. "But I like it. And it aggravates you, so I'll going to call you that."

"I've told you to ignore it, Prowl." Optimus pointed out,

Prowl glared at Optimus, something he wouldn't have done before his carrier became bonded to the Prime.

Optimus wasn't affected by it in the least. He felt the powerful jets of the ship blow air against his frame, but it didn't faze him in the least.

Hot Rod, having seen the ship, ran over to his sire's side, wanting to see the new bots. He looked at the ship in amazement. "It's so big."

Optimus chuckled. "Most Autobot ships are big, Hot Rod. They have to accommodate all the crew members."

Once the ship had landed, the first Autobot that exited the ship was Ultra Magnus himself. The red, blue, and white Autobot smiled at the sight of his commander and long time friend. "Optimus, it has been a long time."

"Indeed it has, Magnus." Optimus reached out and took Ultra Magnus's hand in his own. "I'm glad that you made it here safely, my friend." Optimus then looked down at Lennox. "This is General William Lennox. He is our human ally and a good friend."

Ultra Magnus knelt down to Lennox's level. "It is good to meet you, General."  
>"A pleasure. Optimus has told me a lot about you." Lennox told him.<p>

Hot Rod looked up at Ultra Magnus in a curious manner. He hadn't see this mech before, and he had a funny feeling in his spark as he looked at this mech. He didn't understand it. He then looked at his sire. "Sire?"

Optimus glanced down at his son before smiling at his son. "Ultra Magnus, I'd like for you to meet my son, Hot Rod."

Ultra Magnus looked rather shocked. He had known that Optimus had wanted Ratchet for a long time. He wondered if Ratchet was the one that had carried Hot Rod or if it was somebot else. The large mech knelt down to Hot Rod. "It's nice to meet you, Hot Rod." He smiled at the mechling as he noticed a strange pull in his spark when he looked at Hot Rod.

"Nice to meet you, Ultra Magnus." Hot Rod told him, a smile on his faceplates.

Ultra Magnus stood back up. "Who's his carrier?"

"Ratchet is." Optimus replied. He smiled. "Hot Rod was born in a set of triplets."

"Triplets?" Ultra Magnus was shocked. "Those must have been some curses that Ratchet threw at you."

"You have no idea." Optimus told him. He then looked at the other Autobots who had disembarked from the ship. "Once we return to base, Ratchet wants to do a full physical on everybot to make sure they are all in good shape."

"Not surprising." Ultra Magnus muttered. He knew Ratchet rather well, so that didn't surprise him. He just hoped that Ratchet didn't kill him if Ultra Magnus was right.

* * *

><p>"Hi, Carrier!"<p>

Ratchet turned at the sound of his daughter's voice to see that Nova and Ricochet had come into the medbay. "And what are you two up to?"

"We just heard from Red Alert. He said that Sire and the others will get back to base in about ten minutes." Nova said.

"Well, thank you for telling me." Ratchet chose not to mention that Optimus had already told him. Why spoil his younglings wanting to let him know something?"

"Can we meet Sire's friend, uh, um-" Ricochet couldn't remember his name.

"Ultra Magnus, Ricochet." Ratchet told him. He smiled. "And you'll be able to meet him, Ricochet. You just have to be patient."

"Okay." Ricochet said.

Nova looked up and noticed that all of her carrier's tools were out and ready to be used. "Carrier, Uncle Wheeljack didn't have an accident. Why are your tools out?"

Ratchet chuckled, finding it amusing that his tools instantly said Wheeljack needed them to his daughter. "I know, Nova. Wheeljack isn't the one I'll be using them on. I just need to give the new arrivals a physical to ensure that they are all in good health."

A sudden explosion rocked the base.

"Then again, maybe Wheeljack does need them." Ratchet stated, annoyed. He left the infirmary with his younglings on his heels.

Smoke billowed out of Wheeljack's lab. The door to the lab had been blown out and the windows had been shattered.

Ratchet sighed before looking in the lab and finding his brother sitting in the middle of the floor with a shocked expression on his faceplates. "Wheeljack, why wasn't your mask in place?"

Wheeljack looked at his brother. "I wasn't working on an invention, Ratchet. Honest! I was just at my desk working with schematics and then boom."

"It's always "then boom" with you, 'Jack. And some of your inventions take time to explode." Ratchet retorted as he walked over and knelt by his brother. An examination revealed, surprisingly, no injuries. "Well, I'm impressed. No injuries. You're just covered in soot."

"Good." Wheeljack shook his helm. "Can't figure out how it happened."

"Just don't cause another one for a while." Ratchet stood up. "I'm going to be doing the physicals for the new arrivals, and I'd rather not have to call First Aid in to do that because you've blown yourself to pieces again."

"No problem, Ratchet." Wheeljack replied.

Ratchet turned and left the infirmary with Nova and Ricochet behind him. He glanced at his younglings. "I'll need you to stay with somebot else while I do the physicals."

"Can't I watch?" Nova had a fascination with her carrier's work and liked watching him. She watched Ratchet all the time when the medic repaired Wheeljack.

"Not this time, Sweetspark. None of these bots know you, and I'm not sure how they would feel having a youngling watching." Ratchet replied.

"Aww!" Nova was disappointed.

"Nova." Ratchet's voice was sharp, a clear warning not to push it.

"Sorry." Nova replied.

"Nova, I know you like watching me work, but there are times that you simply can't. I promise to let you when I can. Just not this time. All right?" Ratchet told her.

"Okay, Carrier." Nova answered.

Ratchet then sent a comm to Bluestreak. :_Bluestreak, do you mind keeping an optic on Nova and Ricochet for me for a bit?_:

:_Sure thing. Problems with Wheeljack?_: Bluestreak asked.

:_No. Oddly enough, he's not injured. Just needs a visit to his wash racks to get all the soot off. The new arrivals will be here soon, and I'm not sure they'd appreciate a couple of younglings in there with them._: Ratchet replied.

:_No problem. Just send them to the rec room. That's where I am with Jumpstreak and Brightspark._: Bluestreak replied.

Ratchet agreed and cut the comm. "Please go to the rec room. Bluestreak is there. Stay with him until either your sire or I come to get you."

"Yes, carrier." Nova and Ricochet then headed for the rec room.

Ratchet entered the infirmary and received a message from Bluestreak that Nova and Ricochet were there. He then checked his tools once more to ensure that he had everything that he needed.

"Well, well, well. Never thought I'd see you of all mechs here on Earth." a snide voice stated.

Ratchet barely held in the snarl that wanted to escape at the sound of that condescending voice. He got a hold of emotions before he turned around, faceplate neutral, to face a black and purple Praxian, who was looking at Ratchet with a superior smirk. "Driftstream."

Driftstream was a bit disappointed that he didn't get more of a reaction out of Ratchet, but he could live with that. "It's been a long time, Ratchet."

"Yes. I know. The last time I saw you was when I told you I was sparked and you walked out." Ratchet stated, not betraying a hint of emotion.

Driftstream snorted. "I was going into my residency, Ratchet. I couldn't have anything interfering with finishing my medical training."

"So you decided to be a coward and leave your responsibilities behind." Ratchet stated.

Driftstream glared at him. "I had better things to do than deal with two unwanted sparklings! I never wanted them in the first place! Besides, who are you to tell me that? You purged them."

Ratchet's growled. "I did no such thing. I carried them with my family's support, and I raised them alone." He narrowed his optics. "And they were certainly wanted. By me, in any case."

Driftstream looked shocked. "How the slag can that be?! You became one of the most sought after medics on Cybertron!"

"Yes, I did." Ratchet replied calmly. "And I did so while being a single creator."

"Well, I'm sure they ended up being good-for-things. Without my guidance, there's no way they could amount to anything." Driftstream snorted.

Ratchet wondered what he had ever seen in Driftstream. Had the mech been this arrogant and self-absorbed back then? "Actually, they were very successful."

Driftstream glared at him. "Really?"

"Indeed. Prowl is Optimus Prime's second-in-command, and he was the best tactician of the Autobot army during the war." Ratchet found great satisfaction in Driftstream's stunned expression. "And Smokescreen became an excellent psychologist as well as an admirable soldier."

Driftstream was shocked. How could those two have fared so well without him there to guide them? Ratchet couldn't have managed that well on his own. "There's no way they could have done so well without a good sire influence."

"The sire influence they had came from my sire, my brother, and the mech who ended up becoming my brother's mate. They were very influential. They might not have had a sire in their lives, but they had that direction." Ratchet glared at him. "I'm fairly certain that they fared better than they would have had you actually been in their lives."

Driftstream growled. "How dare you! They would have done much better had I been in their lives!"

"No. I don't think so." Ratchet remained calm, though he was tense. "Your presence would have done more harm than good, especially since you seem to have not wanted anything to do with them in the first place. Sparklings do not need a sire around who does not want them."

Driftstream glared at Ratchet. "I could have done better with them alone than you could ever do with me there to help you."

Ratchet remained unimpressed. "I highly doubt that."

Driftstream's expression then shifted from angry to leering.

Ratchet became guarded instantly. He didn't like that expression. It made him feel like purging.

"Why don't I prove my point, Ratchet?" Driftstream smirked before taking a step forward. "You are still an attractive mech, and I don't think it would hurt to have another one together."

Ratchet defiantly felt like purging his tanks now. "Not if you were the last sire in existence."

Driftstream growled. "I never said you had a choice."

Ratchet didn't have time to react before he suddenly found himself pinned back to the wall by the larger and stronger mech. "Get your slagging hands off of me! I'm-" Ratchet didn't get a chance to get the word bonded out before he was forced into a kiss with the mech. The medic struggled against the mech, but was no match for the stronger bot.

Driftstream had never been a mech who particularly cared for his partners too much. Just put on the show enough to keep his current berth mate sticking around for a while. He never intended to have creations, but he wasn't about to let Ratchet get away with saying Prowl and Smokescreen had been better off without him. What stupid designations! He would have come up with better ones.

Ratchet continued to struggle against the larger mech and was starting to panic. Particularly when he felt one of Driftstream's hands drift lower on his frame.

Driftstream was suddenly ripped away from Ratchet and thrown, violently, across the room and into the wall, nearly sending Driftstream through it.

Ratchet gasped as the offending mech had been ripped off of him, and the medic took a few moments to calm his racing spark and to get control of his own vents. He was grateful for the wall behind him, or he might have fallen flat on his faceplates. He glanced up and was relieved to see his red and blue mate standing protectively in front of him.

Optimus had felt Ratchet's sudden panic and had immediately gone to the infirmary to see what was wrong, leaving Hot Rod in Ultra Magnus's hands. He knew his son would be safe. He had not been prepared to see the black and purple Praxian he had seen before pinning **HIS **mate to the wall, kissing **HIS **mate, and letting his hands drift over **HIS **mate's frame. He had been angered and immediately flew over, tearing the mech away and throwing him across the room. The Prime was well aware of the fact that Ratchet wasn't at fault. His mate's panic over their bond and the struggles he had seen were proof of that.

"What the slag do you-!" Driftstream started until he noticed who was in front of the medic. "Prime, I-"

"Carrier! What happened?!" Prowl rushed into the infirmary. He had sensed over his creator-creation bond with his carrier that something was amiss.

Smokescreen rushed in a moment later.

Ratchet then felt how panicked Hot Rod, Nova, and Ricochet had become. He realized how own panic at what had happened had reached them. He quickly reached out to all three of them and assured them that he was fine and that there was nothing to be scared of.

Hot Rod, Nova, and Ricochet slowly calmed down, though Ratchet could easily feel over their bond just how unsure his three younglings were. He would need to go and get them so that he could calm them down. He also was going to need to either get First Aid to handle the physicals or do them later.

Prowl glanced back and forth between where his carrier and Optimus were standing and the black and purple Praxian who was against the wall. "What happened?"

Optimus didn't answer at first. He was too busy trying to get a handle on his own raging emotions. Finally, he spoke, but not to Prowl. "Smokescreen, get Ratchet and take him to our quarters."

Smokescreen didn't question the Prime, certainly not when the Prime held that kind of tone. He just did what was asked. He got his carrier and got him out of the infirmary.

Prowl glanced at his commander. He could tell that something had happened to piss the Prime off, and it must have had something to do with this mech. "Prime, what-" Prowl didn't get a chance to answer as the door to the infirmary shut.

Driftstream had never been one to really fear authority figures, not even the Prime. And he certainly wasn't about to fear or let the Prime get away with interrupting him. "What the slag do you think you are doing, Prime?!"

Prowl sighed. "Sir, you can't keep him in here."

Optimus narrowed his optics before stalking up to Driftstream and slamming him back into the wall. "What gives you the right," Optimus snarled, "to force yourself onto **MY **mate like that?!"

Prowl froze at those words, realizing exactly what it was that he had walked in to see.

Driftstream was shocked. Ratchet was the Prime's mate? That's preposterous! "Why would you want a pathetic slut like him as your mate?"

This time, it was Prowl who growled. "My carrier is not a slut!"

Driftstream finally noticed who exactly it was that was in the room and realized who it was. "You. Ratchet would have been better off not having you."

Prowl released a growl at that.

Optimus narrowed his optics. "I will warn you right now, Driftstream, that you are to leave my mate alone. If you ever pull a stunt like this again, so help me, you will regret it."

Driftstream snorted. "Yeah. Right."

Optimus suddenly tightened his hands so hard around Driftstream's shoulders that it hurt the mech in question. "Don't try my patience!" He sounded more like Ratchet the way he was growling. "I might be patient and willing to listen in most cases, but if you mess with my mate or my creations, not even Primus himself will stop me from tearing you to shreds."

Driftstream was stunned. "So, Ratchet didn't learn from his first mistake. He had more brats."

That was the last straw!

* * *

><p>Ratchet finished repairing the last of the injuries to his mate's hand. "I'd ask what happened, but I have a feeling I already know."<p>

Optimus glanced at his mate. "He was asking for it with the way he was acting, Ratchet. He crossed too many lines." He shook his helm. "I want to kill that mech!"

"Yeah. Wheeljack has uttered those words quite a few times." Ratchet crossed his arms. "But that's hardly the way that a Prime should react."

"I'd like to see any Prime before me react better than I did to all of this, Ratchet." Optimus flexed his hand, once more amazed at his mate's efficient work. "Trust me. He deserved it."

Ratchet shook his helm. "Driftstream does and says things to get others riled up, Optimus. He was baiting you."

Optimus reached out and took his mate's hand before pulling the medic closer to him. "Ratchet, you are my mate. If somebot decides speaking of you in a disrespectful manner is a good idea, I'm going to prove them wrong."

"You and Prowl?" Ratchet asked.

"He pissed Prowl off, too." Optimus replied. He smiled. "Though I honestly think that Driftstream got the worst end of it."

"If you and Prowl had the injuries you did, I'm not sure I want to know what kind of injuries Driftstream had." Ratchet stated.

"No intention of finding out?" Optimus asked.

"No. First Aid is dealing with him." Ratchet stated.

"And where are Nova, Ricochet, and Hot Rod?" Optimus asked.

"With Smokescreen. It took me a bit to calm them all down." Ratchet sighed. "I hate that my panic reached them."

"Not your fault, Ratchet." Optimus pulled his mate down to kiss him. "You were taken off guard. Though I'd rather you not be alone with him from now on."

"Me and you both." Ratchet murmured.

* * *

><p>Jazz stared at Prowl in shock. "So, you, the bot who <strong>wrote<strong> the Autobot handbook on behavior, went against it and helped Prime in taking down another Autobot. A medic at that."

Prowl glared at his mate. "Jazz, if you heard half the things he said about my carrier, you would have made him disappear never to be seen again." He shook his helm. "Besides, he forced himself on my carrier, and Prime wasn't going to let him get away with it. Neither was I."

Jazz was stunned. "When you say forced himself on the doc-"

"From what Optimus told me, he felt carrier's panic over their bond, so he rushed to the infirmary to find that **Driftstream**," Prowl uttered the designation with no small amount of hatred, "had Carrier pinned against the wall and forcing a kiss on him."

Jazz whistled. "Surprised Prime didn't rip 'im to shreds. I know I would have."

"Ironhide showing up was the only thing that stopped him from killing him." Prowl replied.

Jazz nodded in understanding. "Well, if he tries anything to hurt tha doc again, he's a dead mech. I'll make sure of it."

"And I'll help." Prowl muttered.

* * *

><p>"What kind of Prime does all this?" Driftstream muttered. He was more pissed that he had been bested by the two as he examined the repairs First Aid had done while still in medbay. "Needs to be replaced."<p>

Ultra Magnus frowned. "Driftstream."

Driftstream glanced at the taller Autobot.

"Let me remind you that you forced yourself onto Ratchet, who is the Prime's mate. Optimus reacted the way anybot would who came upon their mate being forced into a kiss they did not want." Ultra Magnus told him.

Driftstream scowled.

"And verbally berating his mate was your second mistake. The cameras caught everything. You're lucky you're not being brought up on charges." Ultra Magnus stated.

Driftstream couldn't believe this. He had been ganged up on by Optimus Prime and Prowl, and no bot would do anything about it.

"Most on this base think a lot of Ratchet, so the fact you abandoned him when you learned he was sparked by you already puts you on their hate list. Learning what you forced on him makes them pissed at you. Berating Ratchet the way you did just makes them not care. I'd watch your back. There are some volatile mechs who are related to Ratchet, and they won't think twice about attacking you." Ultra Magnus narrowed his optics. "And I won't help you."

"What?!" Driftstream was shocked.

"Driftstream, honestly, you run your mouth to piss bots off. I always said you'd say the wrong thing to the wrong bot, and you'd pay for it. And you have. You were asking for it." Ultra Magnus turned. "I'd back off of Ratchet before you end up meeting Primus." He then left the room.

Driftstream couldn't believe it. He had thought that having sparklings would weigh him down. Besides, he had never wanted sparklings of his own. He ended up being a little known medic who barely found work while the mech he left had ended up being well-known and sought after by bots of all class. Despite being a single creator, Ratchet had been successful. Now, Ratchet was happily bonded to the Prime of all mechs with a family with him.

Why was it that Ratchet was so happy when Driftstream couldn't seem to find any measure of happiness regardless of what he did?

* * *

><p>Drop a review and let me know what you thought.<p>

Well, as it turns out, I'm extending this story one extra chapter. So there's still two more chapters to go.


	20. Chapter 20

Here's the next chapter.

**Sorry for the long wait. School and a few family issues stopped me from managing to finish this before now. Enjoy!**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 20<p>

Ratchet slowly came out of recharge to find that he was alone in the berth. He had no doubt that his mate had already gone to his office and started his work for the day. :**You left early, Orion.**:

:**I know, Ratchet, and I'm sorry. I just knew that there was a lot that I needed to do today. After all, if we're going to do as we planned and go on a vacation, there's a lot that I need to get done.**: Optimus told him.

:**I suppose so.**: Ratchet agreed. He sat up in the berth. :**I'll need to get to the physicals for the new arrivals today.**:

:**Is First Aid going to help you?**: Optimus asked.

:**Yes. I have already spoken to him. Jolt will be there as well. Between the three of us, we should be able to get them done rather quickly.**: Ratchet stated. He could easily sense the unease in his mate. :**Orion, what's wrong?**:

:**Ratchet, I'd rather that you didn't give Driftstream his physical. And I don't want you to be left alone with him.**: Optimus replied honestly.

:**I know the feeling, Orion.**: Ratchet got out of the berth and left his and Optimus's berth room to check on their younglings, who were all still in recharge. :**I don't intend to be left alone with him again, and I've already informed First Aid that he's the one doing the physical. Though I'm not leaving First Aid alone with him, either.**:

:**I don't blame you.**: Optimus agreed.

:**Don't worry, Orion. I've set up the schedules so that Ultra Magnus will be in the infirmary at the same time that Driftstream is. And I can have Ironhide close by just in case, though Magnus could handle it all himself.**: Ratchet stated.

:**Agreed. I just worry.**: Optimus stated.

Ratchet chuckled over their bond. :**Orion, at this point, I think Driftstream is the one that needs to be more concerned about what will happen to him if he does try to do something to any of us.**:

:**I agree. I'd kill him this time.**: Optimus growled.

:**And I have no doubt that the Protectobots would kill if he tried to do anything to First Aid.**: Ratchet considered that a moment. :**Then again, the more likely scenario is that they'd kill him if he tried anything with First Aid in the vicinity, whether First Aid was his target or not.**:

:**The same can be said of me.**: Optimus stated.

:**And Prowl, Smokescreen, Bluestreak, sideswipe, Sunstreaker.**: Ratchet stopped at that. :**Might as well say my entire family.**:

:**Agreed.**: Optimus grew quiet a moment. :**Ratchet, I need to go. There's a meeting I have to get to.**:

:**I understand. I'll see you in a bit, Orion. Love you.**: Ratchet said.

:**Love you, too.**: Optimus replied before leaving the bond.

Ratchet smiled as he got himself a cube of energon. He knew that his mate worried about him, but he wasn't that worried about Driftstream this time. He would be prepared for whatever Driftstream had in mind. Besides, he had an array of weapons at his disposal in the disguise of medical tools.

* * *

><p>Ultra Magnus was normally a calm, reserved, and stoic bot. He had gained the reputation of never smiling, laughing, or anything of the like. He was known as being uptight, by the book, and a complete aft to those who tended to break the rules. The mech didn't mind that that's what he was known for. He only dropped that façade around those he trusted.<p>

And Ultra Magnus couldn't help himself as he started laughing his aft off.

Optimus growled as he glared at Prowl and Jazz. "I thought Ratchet ordered that all of that slagging footage was to be erased!"

"Come on, OP." Jazz stated as he leaned back in his chair and propped his pedes up on Optimus's desk. "That's priceless footage. Those five groon you spent runnin' from the doc was a comedy for all of us." The silver mech grinned. "And Ah bet we'll never see Doc actin' like that again."

Ultra Magnus held his sides as he finally stopped laughing. "That is not something that I never thought I would see." He grinned at his old friend. "I honestly didn't think I would ever see the cycle that you would actually run from Ratchet."

Optimus groaned. "For the love of Primus! Do I honestly have to go through this again?!" He threw his hands up. "I didn't want to just spark Ratchet because Ratchet was in a mating cycle. Is that really so hard to understand?"

"No. It's not." Ultra Magnus smiled. "But Ratchet constantly chasing and jumping you is rather funny, Optimus."

Optimus sighed. "Just don't let Ratchet know you saw that footage. All of our afts would be in trouble if he learned any of that footage remained."

"I wouldn't utter a word of that to Ratchet. I enjoy living far too much." Ultra Magnus replied.

That was something that Optimus was thankful for. He'd end up with a lot less friends if his mate killed them all for knowing something that Ratchet would rather they not know.

* * *

><p>Ratchet was in the infirmary, getting everything ready for when the new arrivals would come in for their physicals. He knew that he still had a joor and a half before the first patient was scheduled to come in, but he liked to double check that he had everything that he needed.<p>

"Carrier?"

Ratchet turned to look at Hot Rod. "What is it, Hot Rod?" Ratchet tilted his helm to the side. "And does Elita know that you are here with me?"

"Yes, Carrier. I told her that I was coming here." Hot Rod trotted over to his carrier. "I wanted to ask you something."

Ratchet knelt down in front of his son. "Hot Rod, you know that I am going to have patients soon. Is it something that can wait?"

"I don't think so." Hot Rod answered.

Ratchet smiled at his son. "Well, what is it, Hot Rod?"

"My spark feels funny." Hot Rod said.

Ratchet instantly became concerned. He reached down and picked his son up before placing him on one of the berths. "What do you mean by that?" While he asked, he was contacting Optimus through their bond. :**Orion, I need you in the infirmary. It's Hot Rod.**:

:**I'll be right there.**: Optimus replied.

"I don't know, Carrier. It doesn't hurt. It just feels weird." Hot Rod replied, rubbing his chest plates.

"How long has it felt like this?" Ratchet asked.

"Just since yesterday." Hot Rod answered.

A moment later, Optimus entered the infirmary, and Ratchet quickly told him over their bond what was going on. "Hot Rod, why didn't you tell us about this yesterday?"

"I didn't think about it." Hot Rod admitted.

Ratchet suspected that because of what had happened with him the previous day had made Hot Rod really upset, just like Ricochet and Nova, and that was why Hot Rod forgot to mention it. "All right, Hot Rod. I'll look you over and see what I come up with."

Hot Rod nodded.

Optimus was worried about their son. He didn't like the thought that something might be wrong with him.

:**Orion, we're going to have to keep our worry from reaching him. If he senses it, it's just going to scare him.**: Ratchet told his mate.

:**Right.**: Optimus agreed.

Ratchet then started to do a few standard tests on his son to see if there was something wrong with his son's spark. To the medic's surprise, Hot Rod was rather patient with his carrier while he did the tests. It made it easier. Normally, Hot Rod was a rather squirmy and impatient mechling, which was why Ratchet was so surprised.

:**Ratchet, have you found anything?**: Optimus asked.

:**Give me a moment, Orion.**: Ratchet replied. He started to look over the results only to find that there was nothing out of the ordinary with his son's spark. Everything was normal. He turned his focus back to Hot Rod. "Hot Rod, when exactly did this strange feeling in your spark start?"

"When I met Sire's friend Ultra Magnus." Hot Rod answered without hesitation.

That one shocked them both.

Ratchet considered that a moment before he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what was going on. "Hot Rod, does this strange feeling feel even more prominent when you're around Ultra Magnus?"

"Uh-huh. I really noticed it when I spent so much time with Ultra Magnus yesterday." Hot Rod answered.

That explained it. Ratchet felt a lot better now that he had a pretty good idea what was going on. "Okay, Hot Rod. I think I understand. You don't' need to worry about that feeling, okay? You're fine."

"Okay, Carrier." Hot Rod replied.

Ratchet set Hot Rod back in the floor. "Why don't you go back to your aunt and play with your brother and sister?"

"Okay." Hot Rod left the infirmary.

Optimus turned to face his mate. "Well, Ratchet? What's wrong with him?"

"If I'm right, nothing. I have a feeling that Ultra Magnus can confirm what I already suspect." Ratchet answered.

Optimus raised an optic ridge at that. "Should I comm him and ask him to come here?"

"Yes. I think that would be a good idea." Ratchet wanted to make sure that his suspicions were right, and he knew that he'd feel a lot better once Ultra Magnus confirmed them.

Optimus commed Ultra Magnus and asked him to come to the infirmary. He received an immediate reply with Ultra Magnus telling him that he would be there momentarily. "He's on his way." Optimus informed his mate.

Ratchet nodded in understanding.

Ultra Magnus was there a few moments later. "Optimus. Ratchet. What's going on?"

"Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod was in here a few moments ago. He told us that he had this strange feeling in his spark and that it had been going on since he met you. Care to fill us in?" Ratchet asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ultra Magnus held his hands up in surrender. "I honestly intended to tell you both about this. I was going to talk to you when you did my physical and make sure before I really did anything, Ratchet."

Optimus was becoming increasingly frustrated. "Would one of you please tell me what is going on with my son?"

"In short, Ultra Magnus is Hot Rod's destined bondmate." Ratchet smiled. "The strange feeling Hot Rod has been feeling is simply his spark's reaction to Magnus. His spark knows what he can't understand right now. In a few breem, the feeling should fade and wouldn't come back until Hot Rod's in adolescence."

"I promise that I intended to tell you both about this. I just wanted to double check with Ratchet before I told you." Ultra Magnus stated. To cover his own aft considering the fact that he was talking about the wrench-wielding medic's son, Ultra Magnus added, "And you both know that I would never do anything until Hot Rod is the appropriate age."

"We know that, Magnus." Optimus assured him.

"Agreed." Ratchet smiled. "It means that we know Hot Rod would be safe with you considering the fact that you would never let anything happen to him."

Ultra Magnus nodded. Even if Hot Rod wasn't his destined mate, he would have done it.

* * *

><p>It was nearing the end of the shift, and Ratchet was glad of that because it meant that he could go back to his quarters and relax. Granted, it was hard to relax with his younglings around, but at least he could be with his family. He only had one patient left, Blaster.<p>

"Ratchet."

Ratchet barely suppressed the growl that threatened to escape from him at that voice. Did that mech not know when to give up?! Putting on an emotionless mask, Ratchet turned to face Driftstream. "What do you want, Driftstream? You were given your physical several joor ago, and I have not been informed that you will be working in the infirmary as of yet."

Driftstream didn't bother suppressing his growl. He loathed the fact that he would be working as Ratchet's subordinate if assigned to the infirmary. "What? An old friend can't come and see you?"

Ratchet narrowed his optics. "Not when the old "friend" is you. I'd hardly consider you that, Driftstream." He crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want?"

:_Ratch, everything okay? Saw that aft go in the infirmary._: Ironhide told him.

:_Everything's fine for now, but stay close._: Ratchet told him.

:_No problem._: Ironhide replied.

"Why are you so happy?" Driftstream demanded.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "Meaning what?"

Driftstream glared at him. "Don't play dumb, Ratchet! It's not hard for anybot to see just how happy you are. After all the things that went wrong in your life, how can you be so happy now?"

Ratchet was quiet a moment before he answered the mech in front of him with another question. "You mean why is a bot like me so happy when a bot like you isn't?"

Driftstream growled. "Of course I mean that! I've always been better than you at everything! So why is it that you are so happy when I am not?!"

Ratchet wondered, once more, what he had ever seen in this mech. He decided to answer bluntly. "Because you are a complete aft to everybot that you come across, you are always condescending toward others, and you use others until they are no longer useful to you or you grow tired of them."

Driftstream snarled. "I look out for myself! There is nothing wrong with that!"

Ratchet looked at him in an unimpressed manner. "There is nothing wrong with watching out for yourself. You take it to a whole other level, though, Driftstream. You act like you care about others, but it's just a show. They are simply a means to an end for you. You take every chance you get to put others down and make yourself seem better off."

Driftstream looked pissed off.

"You interfaced your way into every position you held. I, on the other hand, worked hard for what I gained. Every position I gained because of my dedication to my work." Ratchet frowned. "And I became so well known because I cared about the sparks of the bots I was trying to save."

"And I didn't?" Driftstream demanded.  
>"No. You did not. You only cared about the fame, glory, and riches that you gained. It's why you had such a high mortality rate as a medic. You didn't care. And you were a complete aft about it." Ratchet stated.<p>

"How did you-" Driftstream sputtered.

"Bots in the medical profession talked. I heard about how you acted." Ratchet stated.

"What about you?" Driftstream snapped.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge.

"You were always known for shouting at, threatening, and hitting your patients." Driftstream stated.

"Yes, but despite that, my patients **knew **that I cared about them. I always worked on them until their sparks were gone. That was when I stopped." Ratchet's optics narrowed. "You always gave up too soon."

Driftstream resisted the urge to hit the medic. After all, he really didn't want the Prime coming after him again.

"As for your personal life, you keep bots around to satisfy your carnal needs, and when you no longer find them satisfying in the berth, you move on to the next one." Ratchet pursed his lips. "Your reason for being with me was my medical aptitude. You used me to help you pass."

Driftstream growled. "Nothing wrong with satisfying your needs."  
>"As long as the other knows that, and you didn't let them know that most of the time. You just used them until you were tired of them." Ratchet considered that. "I honestly have no clue what I ever saw on you."<p>

"I was the best thing that ever happened to you!" Driftstream snapped.

"Prowl and Smokescreen were the only good thing that came out of my relationship with you." Ratchet retorted. He glared. "And Optimus was the best thing that could have happened to me on that level."

Driftstream finally snapped and lunged for Ratchet.

**CLANK!**

**SLAM!**

"What's going-on?" Ironhide had come in shouting only to finish in shock at the sight.

Driftstream was unconscious on the floor with Ratchet standing in front of him, his favorite wrench in hand.

Ratchet frowned. "Ironhide, do me favor?"

"What?" Ironhide was still a bit shocked.

"Get this pile of scrap out of my medbay. I have a patient coming and don't want to work round him." Ratchet placed the wrench back down.  
>"Uh, yeah, sure." Ironhide walked over. "You okay?"<p>

"He surprised me last time. He didn't this time." Ratchet shrugged. "He didn't like what I had to say when I answered him honestly. So I knocked him out."

"Should I inform Prime?" Ironhide asked.

"I'll do it. After I check over Blaster, I'm done." Ratchet smiled. "Besides, Red Alert probably beat both of us to it."

Ironhide nodded as he grabbed Driftstream and dragged him out of the infirmary, planning to toss him in the brig for this.

* * *

><p>Red Alert had been keeping an optic on the monitors, like he always did. Upon seeing Driftstream enter the infirmary, the security director had commed Optimus and told him of the situation.<p>

Optimus, concerned for his mate's safety, but not wanting to seem like he was lurking and waiting to come to his mate's rescue, since Ratchet wouldn't appreciate it, had gone to the security director's office and watched what happened.

"Should have kicked him off the planet for what he did before. The mech's trouble." Red Alert muttered.

Optimus couldn't agree more. "I can't force him to leave like that, Red Alert. It's not our way." The Prime shook his helm. "No matter how much he deserves it."

Red Alert couldn't stop the snicker that escaped him. "I must say that you and Prowl certainly showed him a thing or two. Never seen either of you like that outside of battles with the Decepticons."

"He shouldn't have done that." Optimus replied.

The two watched and listened as Driftstream questioned, or rather interrogated, Ratchet. Neither liked the way this was going, but were unsurprised by Ratchet's honest answers.

When Driftstream had lunged at Ratchet, Optimus's spark had clenched in fear, and he was about to dart out of the security office and to the infirmary when he saw Ratchet wield his favorite wrench, which was used for the sole purpose of banging helms when needed, and knock Driftstream out cold. He was relieved and unsurprised to see that. He was also glad to see Ironhide enter, meaning that the Weapon's Specialist would have been close by had Ratchet been unable to stop him.

Red Alert laughed. "Driftstream deserved that." He shook his helm. "Never get on Ratchet's bad side when you are in his infirmary where every medical instrument can be turned into a weapon in a matter of astroseconds."

"Indeed. Thank you for informing me, Red Alert." Optimus had already sent a message to Ironhide to throw Driftstream into the brig. "Keep your monitors on the brig. Ironhide is taking Driftstream there, and I want him monitored."

"Of course, Prime." Red Alert replied.

Optimus then left the security office, feeling rather proud of his mate for what he had done to Driftstream.

* * *

><p>Ratchet barely suppressed his growl at the sound of music in his medbay. He turned and was unsurprised to find Blaster walking into his domain.<p>

"Hey, doc. Time for my update?" Blaster asked as he hopped up onto one of the medical berths.

"Blaster, turn off that blasted music!" Ratchet snapped.

"Huh?" Blaster was confused a moment before it dawned on him. "Sorry 'bout that, doc. Forgot ya don't like music." Blaster hit one of his buttons to turn the music off.

"It's not that I do not like music. I just do not like the music you choose to blare out of your speakers." Ratchet retorted as he started his examination.

"You've got quite the younglings, doc. Considerin' tha fact that you and Prime are both grounders, who's gonna teach Nova how to fly, her bein' a Seeker an' all?" Blaster asked.

After a bit of time, Optimus and Ratchet realized that the nubs Nova had were indicators that she was a Seeker, not a Praxian like they thought.

"Skyfire has already volunteered to, and the Aerialbots seem rather enthusiastic about helping to teach her." Ratchet replied.

"When will they start teaching her to fly?" Blaster asked.

"That won't be until her later youngling stellar cycles. Most likely when she's an orn and a half." Ratchet answered.

"Got a while for that, then. Nova should be a good flier with all of them teachin' her. She's cute, and the first femme in a long time." Blaster remarked.

Ratchet stopped what he was doing and looked at Blaster with hard optics. "Why all the comments and questions about my daughter?" His carrier instincts kicked in and made him suspicious.

Blaster realized what Ratchet thought and raised his hands. "I'm not perverted, doc! Honest!"

"Blaster." Ratchet voice was firm.

"Okay. I, uh, think Nova's suppose to be my mate when she's older. My spark's-" Blaster started.

"Has been reacting to her." Ratchet had suspected as much when Nova told him she held the same symptoms as Hot Rod had had with Ultra Magnus.

Blaster nodded before clasping his hands together and looking at Ratchet with wide optics. "Please don't kill me! I mean nothing! I won't do anything until she's an adolescent! I swear!"

Ratchet groaned. "Would you stop it! Mech up, already!"

Blaster instantly went quiet.

"I'm not going to kill you." Ratchet released a loud groan. "Primus! I'm going to have two music-loving, party-throwing son-in-laws!"

Blaster grinned. "You're lucky."

Ratchet glared at him. "I don't think so." He then continued his examination.

* * *

><p>"So, Ricochet is the only one that we don't know who his mate is to be." Optimus mused after Ratchet told him about his conversation with Blaster.<p>

"It would seem so." Ratchet replied, sinking onto the berth on his abdominal plating.

Optimus reached out and gently started massaging his mate's back. "Well, at least we know that Hot Rod and Nova will end up with good mates. We've known Ultra Magnus and Blaster for a long time."

"Yes. And Primus hates me." Ratchet moaned.

Optimus blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"Because he has stuck with me with two son-in-laws who love music and love parties. That's why." Ratchet retorted.

Optimus smiled. "Well, we have a long time before Blaster or Ultra Magnus bond with our creations, Ratchet."

"I know." Ratchet sighed. "I need a vacation."

Optimus chuckled. "Give me another week or so, and we'll be on one."

"Thank Primus." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus realized that his mate really needed the break. "Prowl, Smokescreen, Bluestreak, Starlight, and Carrier have all said they wish to come as well. And I believe that taking Ultra Magnus and Blaster would be a good idea as well."

"Fine by me." Ratchet muttered. He knew that he could trust the two mechs with their creations as he knew that neither of them would try to do anything with their creations until they were much older.

Optimus was glad that Ratchet wasn't protesting. He had already asked Ultra Magnus and he would ask Blaster the following cycle.

* * *

><p>Ratchet lay out in the soft grass as he enjoyed the warm rays of the sun shining down on him. He had offlined his optics and was enjoying the relaxation. He wasn't sure when the last time was that he had been this relaxed.<p>

Optimus had decided to take his family out to Hawaii. All of them were enjoying the various areas of the set of islands. The Hawaiian people seemed thrilled to see them as many hadn't been able to see any of the Autobots up close yet.

Ratchet onlined his optics when he felt a slight weight on him and realized that Nightwalker and Brightspark were both on him. "Weren't you two with Bluestreak?"

"Of course, but Carrier brought us here. Come with us to the ocean, Grandy-Carrier." Brightspark said.

Ratchet loathed being called Grandy-Carrier, but hadn't had the spark to tell his great-grand-creations that. He sighed at the expressions on their faces. "Oh, all right."

"Yay!" The two sparklings jumped off Ratchet to let him up.

Ratchet stood up and turned to find his mate and Bluestreak waiting.

Bluestreak grinned. "Still can't say not to your grand-creations, huh?"

"Well, Bluestreak, as a grand-carrier, I don't have to say no. I get to say yes." Ratchet replied.

The group headed for the beach where only their family was.

"Hey! Glad ta see ya finally decided to join us at tha beach, doc!" Jazz grinned at him. "Catchin' up on tha recharge ya miss when ya havin' ta watch ya infirmary?"

"No, Jazz. I was enjoying the nice weather that we are having." Ratchet retorted.

"Need you be sarcastic while we're here, Ratchet?" Optimus asked as he walked up behind his mate.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge at his mate. "Who was being sarcastic, Orion? I was simply lying out in the sun, enjoying the weather. That was the honest truth."

"Oops. Sorry, doc." Jazz stated.

"For?" Ratchet prodded.

"Uh, well, uh-" the silver mech trailed off as he backed up and tried to hide behind his mate.

Prowl looked rather alarmed before he jumped to the side out of the way.

"Prowler!" Jazz whined.

"No, Jazz! I am not standing between you and my carrier when he finds out." Prowl retorted.

Ratchet had a sneaking suspicion that he knew just why Jazz was cowering at the moment. "You were the one that sent Brightspark and Nightwalker to get me, aren't you?"

"Um, maybe." Jazz replied.

"No maybe about it." Ultra Magnus was sitting not that far off with Hot Rod, who had become rather attached to the older mech already, sitting beside him. Both were near the water's edge.

Jazz gulped.

Ratchet held in the growl that threatened to escape from him. No point in making Prowl a single creator. "Oh, mech up, Jazz! Not like I'm going to murder my grand-creations' carrier, now am I?"

Jazz felt a bit relaxed.

**CLANG!**

"OWW!" Jazz grabbed his helm.

"Doesn't mean I won't use a wrench on you, though." Ratchet finished.

Jazz cringed at the processor ache he felt forming.

Shadowblade burst out lighting.

"'Blade!" Jazz snapped.

"What? It's always funny when Grand-Carrier does that. Besides, Sire says that you always bring it on yourself." Shadowblade defended himself.

"He does at that." Smokescreen agreed with a smile.

"Come on. Let's all stop being do down." Blaster hit one of his buttons and started playing some upbeat music. "Now let's get down and party!"

All of the younglings loved being around Blaster because they knew that the mech was always playing music. It was something that they loved about him.

Nemesis, Swiftwind, Alpha Trion, and Starlight all watched as their family had fun on the beach. They watched as some of the mechs started a volleyball game. Others were getting into the water and playing around in it, though it was mainly the younglings. Sideswipe was attempting to teach Brightspark to use his jetpack to fly around, to which Bluestreak was glaring and probably berating him over their bond. Jazz had somehow managed to convince Prowl to dance with him out on the sand to the beat of the music.

"Hmm. It's nice to just get away from it all and enjoy some quality time alone with the family." Nemesis stated.

"Indeed." Swiftwind chuckled. "Though I can't say I'm surprised that Optimus decided to ask us to watch those three tonight."

"Well, they are on vacation. They deserve to have at least one night where they don't can enjoy some alone time." Starlight smiled. "Besides, Ratchet and Optimus have taken those three to quite a few places for them to see."

"Indeed." Nemesis looked over to where his son was talking to Ratchet. "Those need some time alone." He smirked. "And it gives us the perfect chance to do some more spoiling."

All four agreed with that.

* * *

><p>"How did you manage to convince our creators to take Nova, Hot Rod, and Ricochet tonight so that we could have some time alone?" Ratchet asked as he lay beside his mate in the grass.<p>

The two had enjoyed the night that they had alone simply by sitting and watching as the sun went down and then enjoying the cool night air as they lay in the grass together.

"Ratchet, it doesn't take much. I barely got the question out when they were saying yes." Optimus smiled as he gently brought his fingers down Ratchet's back struts in a gentle manner. "Besides, you know that they are going to say yes to watching our creations for a night. They are always asking to keep them as it is."

"I know, Optimus. But this is also supposed to be a vacation for them." Ratchet stated.

"Watching their grand-creations is something that they'll do regardless of where they are. The only way they would have said no is if they had plans." Optimus stated.

"Hmm. True." Ratchet agreed. He rose up and smiled down at his mate. "So, since you appear to have managed to give us the night to ourselves, perhaps we should enjoy this time we have."

"Agreed." Optimus murmured. He reached up and pulled his mate down into a kiss. :**It's exactly what I had in mind.**:

Ratchet should have known that that was the real reason that he asked their creators to watch their creations for the night. Not that the medic was going to complain about having the night to just themselves.

* * *

><p>"I swear that everything is just as you left it." First Aid told his boss the moment that Ratchet had returned from vacation and first stepped into the medbay to take back up his duties.<p>

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "I figured as much, First Aid. And you can calm down. I trust you. If I hadn't, then I wouldn't have put you in charge of the medbay."

First Aid relaxed at that. "How was your vacation?"

"It was enjoyable, First Aid." Ratchet answered. He turned to glanced at his former student. "It helped me to relax, and I believe that I am ready to get back to work."

"All right, sir." First Aid replied. He started to leave the infirmary to get some rest since he had been on night call. "Oh, by the way, about Driftstream."

Ratchet sighed. "First Aid, I am not concerned about Driftstream. If he has been assigned to work in the infirmary, then this is where he will work. I will deal with it."

"Um, actually, he left." First Aid replied.

Ratchet turned back to look at the younger medic. "He what?"

"He left." First Aid repeated.

"You mean the base?" Ratchet was concerned because Driftstream could be unpredictable, and he didn't want the mech harming any humans because he was pissed off at Ratchet.

"No, sir. He left Earth. Something about this planet wasn't good enough for him. Left a few cycles ago." First Aid responded.

Ratchet couldn't say that he was terribly upset about the mech's decision to leave. He didn't like Driftstream, and he really hadn't want his creations to grow up around a mech as unsavory as Driftstream. "All right, First Aid. Thank you for telling me."

* * *

><p>Jazz looked from Optimus to Prowl and back to Optimus. "So, which one of ya decided to make sure Driftstream left fer good?"<p>

"Jazz, as much as I would like to say that we were able to make Driftstream leave, neither of us did anything." Prowl replied.

"I don't care why he left, Jazz. I am just glad that he is gone." Optimus frowned. "He would have been working in the infirmary with Ratchet, and I didn't like the idea of Driftstream being that close to Ratchet."

Prowl thought about that, did the calculations, and then burst out laughing.

Jazz looked at his mate worriedly. "Uh, Prowler? Ya okay? Do I need ta call ya carrier ta give ya a processor check?"

Prowl shook his helm. "No, Jazz. I am fine. I believe I know exactly why Driftstream decided to leave. And it has nothing to do with Optimus or myself."

Optimus raised an optic ridge as he leaned back in his chair. "And why, pray tell, did he leave, Prowl?"

"Well, think about it. If Driftstream had remained here and worked in the infirmary, who would he answer to?" Prowl asked.

"Prime, of course. He's still the leader of the Autobots, after all." Jazz replied.

Prowl shook his helm. "No. Who would Driftstream have answered to in the infirmary? We all know that none of the medics have to answer to Optimus except for the CMO unless it's about Optimus's own health or the health of our CMO."

That's when the answer dawned on Optimus. "Ratchet. Driftstream would have had to answer to Ratchet."

"Exactly. From what Carrier has said, Driftstream has always had a problem with authority and being ordered to do something. I've got no doubt that Driftstream considers himself superior to Carrier in every way, which means-"

"There's no way a pompous, self-important mech like 'im could ever take orders from the doc. He just couldn't handle it. And he knew that there was no way he'd be promoted to CMO over the doc. 'Specially after how he attacked doc." Jazz finished.

"Exactly. That's why Driftstream left. It was all about his pride and ego." Prowl stated.

Optimus chuckled. "In a way, I think that Driftstream is better off leaving. After all, we all know Ratchet, and Ratchet would have made his life the Pit had he stayed and decided to work under Ratchet."

"Guess ya right. Doc is known for holdin' grudges. And after leavin' doc to raise two sparklings alone, I don't think he'd of let Driftstream off that easily."

"Ratchet doesn't care about that now, Jazz. Ratchet is more upset about how Driftstream has tried to attack him. Ratchet would have made his life miserable simply to make him pay for that." Optimus stated.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about him now." Prowl frowned. "Why was he let out of the brig in the first place?"

"His main problem was with Ratchet, and I didn't think he'd cause much trouble while we were gone. And he didn't." Optimus stated.

Jazz grinned. "Well, don't 'xpect he'll be comin' back ta Earth ever again."

"No. I don't believe he will." Optimus agreed.

And the Prime was just fine with that.

As was Prowl, who had no interest in being around his "sire". Especially since Prowl had always lived under the belief that he had no sire. And he would always believe that since Driftstream turned out to be as much of an aft as Ratchet had told him and Smokescreen he was.

* * *

><p>Leave a review and let me know what you thought!<p>

**Just one more chapter and this one's over!**


	21. Chapter 21

Here's the next chapter.

**Sorry for the long wait. Students teaching has been a bit rough recently, and I haven't had much time for anything except my schoolwork. Can't say how updates will go for now. Just bear with me.**

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:**bold**:- bonded mechs talking

:_italics_:- comm link

:**bold-underline**:- creators and creations talking

Don't own Transformers!

* * *

><p>Chapter 21<p>

Ultra Magnus raced through the rows of houses that stood before he finally arrived at the house he had been searching for. He opened the door, flew in, and then leaped over the couch, where Ratchet was lying, to hide behind the couch.

A heavily sparked and surprised Ratchet grasped the side of the couch and hauled himself up to peer over the edge of the couch at the cowering mech. "Ultra Magnus, what in the seven levels of the Pit do you think you're doing?"

Ultra Magnus looked up at the medic. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm hiding."

"Ratchet, is somebot here?" Optimus asked from upstairs.

"Yes. Ultra Magnus just came barreling in and is currently hiding behind our couch." Ratchet replied before turning to set his pedes on the floor.

A moment later, Optimus entered the living room. "Magnus, why are you hiding?"

Ultra Magnus rose up and peered around the room nervously, as if he was expecting somebot to suddenly attack him, despite the fact that it had been five vorns since the war with the Decepticons had ended.

Optimus raised an optic ridge. "Magnus, what is going on?"

"I'm hiding from your son." Ultra Magnus stated.

Ratchet glanced back. "What did you do to piss Hot Rod off?"

Hot Rod, as it turned out, had inherited his carrier's temper, his carrier's aim, and his carrier's glares. Which meant that they had another mech that threw things when he was pissed. Hot Rod even threw wrenches just like his carrier did.

"I didn't do anything! That's the problem! And he's not acting like he's fragged off! I've never seen him act like this before!" Ultra Magnus sounded a bit panicky.

Ratchet winced at a particularly painful kick from the sparklings he was carrying.

Ultra Magnus failed to notice this. "Hot Rod just suddenly started trying to seduce me! In front of a crowd! And then he started chasing me! He's always been a bit enthusiastic in the berth, but this is ridiculous!"

Ratchet considered that a moment before he burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny!" Ultra Magnus snapped, forgetting the cardinal rule of **NEVER **shouting at a sparked mech, especially when that mech was Ratchet.

For once, Ratchet let it go. "Orion, you may wish to be grateful that I am already sparked."

Optimus chuckled. "Indeed. I don't have to go through this. Though Bluestreak and Smokescreen are going to be hit by this."

"What are you two talking about?!" Ultra Magnus snapped, getting irate.

Ratchet smiled at him. "Congratulations, Ultra Magnus. Hot Rod is in the middle of his first mating cycle."

Ultra Magnus's jaw dropped. "HE'S WHAT?!"  
>"I'd tone it down unless you want him to find you quickly." Optimus warned.<p>

Ultra Magnus was quick to shut his mouth. After hearing what Ratchet had put Optimus through and seeing how Bluestreak acted in the middle of his second mating cycle, Ultra Magnus didn't particularly want to have Hot Rod bursting in the room and chasing him. "So, what do I do?"

"You have the same options any other bot does. Go ahead and spark him, run from him for six groon, or go into the depths of Earth's core and wait for six groon." Ratchet stated.

Ultra Magnus groaned.

Optimus raised an optic ridge. "What's the problem? Weren't you and Hot Rod considering starting your family?"

"Well, yes." Ultra Magnus admitted.

"Then stop standing around here, find him, drag him back to your quarters, and get started on sparking him already." Ratchet snapped.

Ultra Magnus glanced at him.

"No. I am not concerned about the fact that I'm telling you to drag my son to the berth. Now do it!" Ratchet snapped.

Ultra Magnus looked at Optimus.

"He's right. You heard what I did. You and Hot Rod are already bonded, Magnus. Go on. Trust me. You're better off just going ahead and sparking him." Optimus told him.

Ultra Magnus considered it a moment before throwing his hands up in the air. "Oh, what the slag! At least I won't look like a strut-less coward."

"Hey!" Optimus protested.

"Prowl's words, not mine." Ultra Magnus stated before leaving the Prime's quarters.

Optimus growled. "I'm going to mangle that stepson of mine."

Ratchet smiled. "Come on, Optimus. It's not that bad."

Optimus walked over and flopped on the couch. "Five vorn! That's how long it's been since that mating cycle, and I am still being teased and taunted over it! When are they going to let it go?!"

Ratchet reached over and rubbed his mate's shoulder. "Come on, Orion. It's probably the one time that any of them have seen you from anybot, even me. It's something they are not going to forget, just like no bot will forget the first time that Prowl decided to throw a party spontaneously."

Optimus chuckled. "Everybot about had a processor crash at that one, particularly at the fact that it was Jazz-worthy party."

Ratchet nodded his helm in agreement. "So, it's not a big deal."

Optimus sighed before stretching out to lay his helm in Ratchet's lap.

"Did you get your work done?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes, actually. I thought I'd be able to ask Hot Rod to take over for me while I stayed with you after our sparklings are born, though that may not be possible." Optimus replied.

Hot Rod, as it turned out, was the one destined to be the next Prime. Optimus had spent the last two vorn teaching Hot Rod all that he would need to know for when he became Prime.

"Well, you might still be able to. After all, it'll be another groon before these three decide to show themselves." Ratchet stated.

**CLANK!**

Ratchet winced at a rather painful kick. "Then again, the way they are acting, you may want to have another bot on standby just in case."

Optimus chuckled. "I think I will."

Ratchet leaned back against the couch. "How is it that all three times I have been sparked by you that I've ended up sparked with triplets each time?"

Optimus grinned. "I'm just that good?"

Ratchet glared lightly at him. "Then I wish that you would get good at just sparking me with twins. The carrying isn't too bad, but the labor is."

"Sorry, Ratch, but it's not like I can control that." Optimus stated. He chuckled. "I'm just glad that I haven't had to deal with another one of those mating cycles with you."

Ratchet laughed. "That's mainly because I've been sparked or far enough from those in the middle of mating cycles for them not to affect me." The medic reached out and started to gently stroke the Prime's finials.

Optimus always enjoyed when his mate would do this. He didn't know how, but there was something in the way his mate would stroke them that could either me relaxing and pleasant or extremely arousing. This time, it was relaxing.

The two mechs heard their door open.

"Sire! Carrier! You here?" a feminine voice called.

"In here, Stargazer." Ratchet called.

A moment later, a light blue femme with red streaks on his arms and helm walked into the room. "Am I interrupting?"

"Of course not. Ultra Magnus was just cowering in here." Ratchet replied.

Stargazer looked surprised as she sat down in the recliner. "Magnus? Cowering?" That was so **NOT **logical. She wasn't Prowl, but even she had trouble believing that.

Optimus laughed. "Hot Rod's in his first mating cycle."

"Oh!" Stargazer shook her helm. "I'm glad I won't have to deal with that for a while."

Stargazer had been sparked in a set of femme triplets. The three of them were only two vorn in age, so none of them would end up in a mating cycle for a while.

Stargazer laughed. "It explains why Red Cross told me that Roddy seemed to be stalking around."

Ratchet nodded. "I'm sure that it'll be fine."

"Hope so." Stargazer leaned back. "How are you doing, Carrier?"

"As well as a bot who only has about a groon of carrying left can feel." Ratchet answered.

"At least Roddy and Magnus are going to have the chance to get a little practice in." Stargazer stated.

"Indeed." Optimus then sat up. "Where is Storm Cloud? We haven't seen her in a few cycles."

Stargazer laughed. "Oh, she's been hanging around the Aerialbots a lot lately."

Ratchet sighed. "Does that translate to she's interested in one of them?"

Stargazer chuckled. "Yeah, but she won't admit it. Just infatuation right now."

"Suppose we shouldn't be too surprised. Storm Cloud is a Seeker, so she's going to end up attracted to other Seekers." Optimus stated.

"And Nova?" Stargazer asked.

"An exception to the rule." Optimus answered.

* * *

><p>"Well, Carrier, it looks like everything is fine." Red Cross stated.<p>

Red Cross, like Nova, had had an interest in the medical field from her youngling stellar cycles and had followed in her carrier's pedesteps in becoming a medic. She was training under First Aid as the medic had become an excellent one under Ratchet's tutelage.

"That's good to hear." Ratchet sighed as he reached up and rubbed his chest plates. "I just wish they'd decide to come already." He shook his helm. "It is no fun being sparked with triplets."  
>Red Cross smiled. She was a white and red femme with the medical sign on both of her shoulders. "Well, Carrier, they'll come when they come. You told Jazz that when he was carrying Melody."<p>

"I know. I know." Ratchet sighed. "Well, things will be fine until I go into labor. I'm afraid my temper always gets the best of me then, and your sire turns into simpering coward."

Red Cross laughed. "Well, he is the one that kinda puts you in that position, Carrier."

"I am willing, though." Ratchet shook his helm as he turned to let his legs hang over the edge of the berth. "In any case, I should get going. I promised your sire that I would come and let him know how things went."

Red Cross nodded.

A loud groan came from another one of the examination rooms.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge.

"Roddy came in. First Aid was dealing with him. He wasn't sure how Roddy would react to all of this." Red Cross replied.

Ratchet sighed. "Something tells me that I had better go and talk to him." He got off of the berth.

"What about Sire?" Red Cross asked.

"I'll let him know. Don't worry about it." Ratchet replied as he left the room. He then contacted his mate through their bond. :**Orion, everything is fine.**:

:**Can I assume you're not coming?**: Optimus asked.

:**No. Hot Rod is here, and it doesn't sound like he's too happy at the moment. I figured I'd better check in on him.**: Ratchet replied.

:**All right, love. I'll see you in a bit.**: Optimus replied.

:**All right, Optimus.**: Ratchet walked into the room Hot Rod was in to find that his son was sitting on the edge of the berth with his face in his hands while Ultra Magnus stood off to the side, looking a bit uneasy.

"Um, Roddy. You know that we've talked about starting a family." Ultra Magnus tried.

"I know that, Magnus." Hot Rod moaned. "But I didn't want to start it in front of everybot that we live around!"

Ratchet chuckled.

Hot Rod raised his helm and looked at his carrier. "This isn't funny, Carrier!"

"I know it's not, Hot Rod, but I felt the same way when I was carrying you, Nova, and Ricochet. The only difference is that your sire ran from me for six groon. You want to talk about embarrassment." Ratchet walked over and gently patted his son on the shoulder. "Trust me, Hot Rod. You're blessed compared to what happened when I was in the mating cycle."

"Indeed." Ultra Magnus chuckled. "That was quite a sight. You jumping Optimus in the middle of the rec room on multiple occasions had to be my favorite." He smirked. "Or maybe when you jumped him in the middle of the base for anybot to see."

Ratchet froze. He might be an old mech, but he wasn't so old that he was losing his processors. And he was very certain that Ultra Magnus hadn't been on earth when he was in the middle of his mating cycle. "Magnus, how did you know that?"

Ultra Magnus looked at Ratchet in confusion before he realized what he had let slip. His expression went from amusing to horrified. He instantly raised his hands as he backed up. "Now, Ratchet. Calm down. No harm was meant."

Ratchet's optics narrowed on his son-in-law. "Ultra Magnus, how did you know that?"

Hot Rod was rather shocked, but had quickly scooted back on the berth, wary of his carrier when he was angry Particularly when he was angry while sparked.

Ultra Magnus decided that the truth was better for his health. He wanted to live to see his creations, after all. "Jazz showed me after I arrived on Earth. He said you had ordered all footage destroyed, but he kept some. Optimus said to make sure you didn't know-"

"ORION KNEW?!" Oh, Ratchet was going to kill him.

SCRAP! "Ratchet, please calm down." Ultra Magnus had backed against the wall while Hot Rod and First Aid were on the other side of the room out of the line of fire. "It was a long time ago. When I first got to Earth, actually."

"Orion knew that long and never told me that you knew! I'll kill him!" Ratchet was really pissed off. He wasn't pissed off so much at the fact that Ultra Magnus had seen the footage, but more so at the fact that Optimus had never bothered to tell him.

"I believe my sire is going to die a slow, painful death." Hot Rod muttered.

"Better him than us." First Aid replied. He was rather glad that Ratchet was on berth rest now, though, since it meant that Ratchet would be difficult to deal with at the moment.

"I can't believe this! All this time, and he didn't tell me!" Ratchet snarled.

Ultra Magnus would die by Optimus's hands if Ratchet didn't kill the Prime first.

Ratchet was prepared to open their bond and let his mate have it then and there, but a sharp pain went through the medic, and he doubled over, reaching out and grabbing the berth as he fell to his knees.

"RATCHET!"

"CARRIER!"

The three bots ran to the medic's side.

Red Cross ran into the room and was shocked to see her carrier on his knees with the other three bots surrounding him. She rushed forward, shoving past her older brother, and knelt down by her carrier. "What's going on?"

Ratchet winced and barely suppressed his cry of pain at what he knew was a contraction. "Labor." It was the only word that the medic could mange through the pain.

"Scrap! He's gone into labor!" First Aid looked back. "Hot Rod! Ultra Magnus! Out now!"

The two mechs wasted no time in getting out of the room at the very Ratchet-like order from First Aid.

"Red Cross, help me get Ratchet to the berth." First Aid stated.

Red Cross nodded and helped First Aid get Ratchet to his feet. "He wasn't supposed to have them for another groon."

"I know, but he'll be fine. Trust me." First Aid replied.

Ratchet vented roughly. "Orion."

"Oh, right. We need to get Optimus here now." First Aid said. He wondered vaguely if Ratchet would kill Optimus before or after the sparklings were born.

* * *

><p>Optimus was busy working on some of his reports, trying to get them done. He wanted to get as much of his work done before Ratchet had their sparklings, and he went on leave for a while. No need in leaving Prowl and Hot Rod with a lot of work.<p>

"Hi, Sire!"

Optimus looked up and smiled at Nova, who was holding her twin sparkling Seekers, Black Hawk and Starstreak. "What are you doing here, Nova?"

"Oh, Blaster had a job as the DJ at a party today, so it's just me. Thought you'd like to see your grandsons." Nova walked into the office.

"Of course I would, Sweetspark." Optimus always made time for his family, no matter what he had going on.

Nova walked over and handed his grandsons to him.

Black Hawk and Starstreak were Optimus's first grand-creations. At least ones that shared energon with him. Nightwalker, Shadowblade, Windblazer, and Kickstart were also his grand-creations. As were Melody, who was Jazz and Prowl's orn-old daughter, and Camshaft and Five Speed, Smokescreen and Hot Shot's second set of twins. Optimus had considered them all his grand-creations and always would.

Black Hawk and Starstreak were rather thrilled to be in their grand-sire's arms, chirping and clicking happily at the Prime.

Optimus smiled. "It's hard to believe that they are already so big."  
>Nova laughed. "I can remember you saying that when we were growing up." She snickered. "I guess you're going to end up saying that again with the three that Carrier's sparked with now."<br>"Probably." Optimus chuckled. "All of you simply grow up far too fast for my liking."

"I know what you mean." Nova sat down in the chair across from the Prime. "I think that now, too." She shook her helm. "It doesn't seem like they should be three stellar cycles yet."

Optimus chuckled. "I know."  
>A moment later, the door to Optimus's office opened, and Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus rushed in.<p>

"Hey, Roddy. Magnus finally spark ya up?" Nova asked with a smirk. She just loved tormenting her brother.

"Not now, Nova." Hot Rod snapped before turning to Optimus. "Sire, you need to get to the infirmary right now."

Optimus raised an optic ridge. "Why, Hot Rod?" If somebot in the infirmary had pissed Ratchet off and was currently on the receiving end of his temper, there wasn't a chance in the Pit that Optimus was going anywhere near the infirmary. That bot was on their own.

"Because Carrier's in there, and he's gone into labor." Hot Rod replied.

Optimus was on his feet, had given Black Hawk and Starstreak back to Nova, and was out the door in less than five astroseconds.

"Last time I saw Optimus move that fast was the last time Ratchet was royally slagged off at him and was chasing Optimus with a wrench in hand." Ultra Magnus stated. He then looked at his mate. "Think we should have mentioned the fact that Ratchet's slagged off at him?"

"Maybe, but it'll be better off for us to keep our mouths shut and let Carrier tell Sire in his own way." Hot Rod replied.

Nova looked at them curiously. "So, why is Carrier mad at Sire?"

"Oh, Magnus let it slip that Jazz still had recordings of when Carrier chased Sire during that mating cycle of his, and Carrier's mad at Sire because Magnus also let it slip that Sire knew that the recordings still existed and didn't tell him." Hot Rod replied.

Nova grimaced. "Well, Sire's had it."

"Yeah." Hot Rod agreed.

Ultra Magnus sighed. "Yeah, and I've had it the moment that Ratchet has the sparklings."

Hot Rod and Nova, well versed with their carrier's temper, knew that he was right. Ratchet was going to kill Optimus, Ultra Magnus, and probably Jazz.

* * *

><p>Ratchet barely bit back his scream as another painful contraction wracked his frame. Even after giving birth three times before this, the medic still could not adjust to just how painful it was. Although the medic knew that the pain was just going to get a whole lot worse.<p>

First Aid glanced at Red Cross. :_Are you sure that you want to do this, Red Cross? I would understand if you prefer not to aid me since this is your carrier we're talking about. I can get Jolt or Perceptor in here to help me._:

Red Cross shook her helm. :_No, First Aid. I want to help._:

First Aid nodded before turning back to Ratchet. "All right, Ratchet. It's very early, so-"

Ratchet vented air roughly. "I know, Aid. I've got a while." He couldn't stop the cry of pain. "Now get my slagging mate in here!"

First Aid and Red Cross both jumped at the angered shout. Primus! That mech could strike fear into just about any bot he wanted to.

A moment later, Optimus rushed into the room. He completely ignored the fact that First Aid and Red Cross were in the room as he dashed to his mate's side. "I came as soon as Hot Rod told me."

Ratchet glared at his mate.

**BAMM!**

**CRASH!**

"Ow!" Optimus rubbed his cheek strut from where he was on his aft on the floor. "Ratchet, what was that for?"

"For not telling me Jazz still had footage of what happened while I was still in the middle of the mating cycle! And for not telling me that Ultra Magnus had seen it!" Ratchet snarled.

Optimus cringed. What a time for Ratchet to find out about that. During labor when the medic had an even greater reason to cause bodily harm to him.

"When did you find out, Carrier?" Red Cross asked.

Ratchet growled.

Optimus cringed before opening his bond with his daughter. :**Red Cross, please! Your carrier already wants to kill me! If you let him know that all of you knew about that, or even worse, have seen it, I am not going to live very long!**: Optimus told her.

:**Sorry, Sire.**: Red Cross replied.

Optimus hauled himself off of the floor before casting a glance at First Aid.

"Early. He's got a while before he'll be able to deliver them." First Aid explained.

Ratchet knew it, and he really hated that fact.

Optimus nodded. That meant that it was going to be a really long cycle.

* * *

><p>"How long has Ratch been in labor now?" Ironhide asked. He was sitting in the rec room with Hot Rod, Wheeljack, and Stargazer.<p>

"About seven joor now." Hot Rod shivered. "Last time I went to check, Carrier was threatening to rip Sire's spark out."

"Yeah. You'll be the one making those threats to Ultra Magnus in about eighteen groon, Roddy." Springer stated as he walked into the room. The green mech was Ironhide and Chromia's son who was also Hot Rod's best friend.

"Don't remind me." Hot Rod muttered.

Ironhide leaned back. 'Mia's been sparked four times, and I gotta say that I'm glad she ain't been in labor for more than five joor at a time. Ratch was in labor with Stargazer, Storm Cloud, and Red Cross for nearly thirty-six joor." Ironhide shook his helm. "Wasn't sure Prime was going ta be in one piece after that one."

"Better him than you, right, Sire?" Springer asked as he sat down next to Hot Rod.

"Exactly." Ironhide agreed.

"Well, I know Ratch, and he'll be just fine. Might scare the slag out of Prime with all the threatenin' and yellin' he does, but Prime'll be fine." Wheeljack laughed. "His biggest problem is figurin' out if Ratch is serious about his threats or if it's the pain that talking. I know that's what happened with Sky."

All the other bots nodded in agreement on that.

* * *

><p>Ratchet barely stopped himself from screaming at the painful contraction, but he wasn't able to stop the small whimper that escaped from him. He also squeezed his mate's hand so hard that Optimus's hand had some dents in it.<p>

Optimus winced, but said nothing. He reached out and gently rubbed his mate's shoulder. "It shouldn't be that much longer, Ratchet."

Ratchet glared at his mate. "You said that six times when I was in labor the last time, Orion! And I was in labor for thirty-six joor then!"

Optimus wondered if he would be better off simply keeping his mouth shut.

Red Cross happened to walk in at that moment. "You're better off keeping your mouth shut, Sire."

"I know. I know." One of these cycles, Optimus would remember to keep his mouth shut when his mate was upset with him. Or in labor as that was the case this time around.

Red Cross did the usually check on Ratchet and found that he was nowhere near ready for delivery. "Sorry, Carrier, but-"

"I know. I know." Ratchet groaned. "Another thirty-six hour labor."

Red Cross smiled. "Don't worry, Carrier. It'll be fine." She then left to let First Aid know the progress, or lack thereof, that Ratchet had made.

Ratchet let his helm fall back against the berth. "Primus! I wish that they would hurry up and come already."

Optimus wasn't sure what to say or do at that point. Hr continued to run Ratchet's shoulder. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"Yeah. Think you could relieve some of the tension in my back?" Ratchet asked.

When Ratchet had been in labor for so long the last time, the two had found out that the Prime could help ease the pain in Ratchet's back some by massaging the medic's lower back and using electromagnetic waves as well.

Optimus was just glad to be able to do something to help ease the pain his mate was in. "Of course, Ratchet." He helped his mate sit up before the Prime moved so that he was partially behind Ratchet, allowing the medic to lean back against him. He then started to gently moved his hands over Ratchet's back at the same time he used the waves to ease the pain.

It didn't help a whole lot, but at least this took away some of the pain that he was in.

* * *

><p>Prowl was currently going through the reports that littered Optimus's desk. He was putting them into two piles: the ones that Optimus had gotten to and the ones that he had yet to get to. Since Optimus was with Ratchet, Prowl knew that it would be a while before Optimus got back to work.<p>

"How much do we have to do, Prowl?"

Prowl glanced up to see his younger brother standing in the door. "I admit that Optimus has kept very up to date with his work. There's not a whole lot that we're going to have to do at the moment."

Hot Rod nodded before walking on into the room. "Well, I'm sure we can handle it." He smiled. "Which do you think Sire would prefer: being snarled at by Carrier while in labor or doing reports?"

Prowl considered that a moment. "Most would think he'd prefer to do the reports, but I know better than anybot just how much Optimus hates reports, so I'd say he'd rather be where he is right now." Prowl smiled. "Congratulations, by the way."

Hot Rod smiled. "Thanks." He rubbed the back of his helm as he sat down in the chair across from Prowl. "I've got to admit that I'm a little scared. I mean, I know Magnus is going to be there, but-"

Prowl chuckled. "I think all first-time creators are worried and scared, Hot Rod. I know I was when Jazz and I had Bluestreak. And I've noticed that with all first time creators, whether they are the sire or the carrier." The black and white mech smiled. "And I'm sure you'll be fine, Hot Rod. It'll just be like with the rest of us. Every little thing and you're going to be coming Carrier in a panic."

"Did you?" Hot Rod asked.

"With Bluestreak, yes. Carrier once said he got as little recharge as we did, and he didn't even live in the same house as Bluestreak." Prowl replied.

"So I won't seem crazy to him." Hot Rod stated.

"Nope." Prowl laughed. "Although he'll be getting as little recharge as you will anyway since he and Optimus will already have three that they are taking care of."

Hot Rod laughed. "Guess so." He shook his helm. "How does Sire manage to spark Carrier with triplets each time?"

"I don't know, but if he winds up sparked with three a fourth time, I fear that Optimus may not live to see their birth." Prowl stated.

"I know Magnus wouldn't live." Hot Rod stated. He knew he was having twins, and he was praying that neither spark decided to split on him.

"Nor would I. Jazz would murder me, particularly if all three ended up with my frame type." Prowl smiled. "Melody was a lot easier on him since she inherited his smaller frame type."

Hot Rod nodded in agreement, wondering if the sparklings he would carrying would have his frame type of Ultra Magnus's. He was hoping that they got his frame type since Ultra Magnus was a bit bigger than he was.

* * *

><p>After a full forty-eight joor worth of labor, for which Ratchet came close to murdering his mate, he finally gave birth to the triplets, with two mechs and one femme.<p>

Ratchet was thoroughly exhausted and probably would have cursed his mate had he had the energy to spare. He had his recharging daughter in his arms. She was entirely dark blue and had inherited her sire's finials. They had named her Nightfall.

Optimus held their two sons. One was chartreuse and blue, a mixture of his creators' colors, with Ratchet's facial structure. He was called Blade Runner. The other sparkling was completely red with doorwings. He was called Blaze.

"Well, they're here now." Optimus stated.

"I know, and I'm glad." Ratchet sighed. "And I thought labor was bad the last time." He shook his helm. "These three just didn't want to come."

Optimus smiled. "Well, they're here, and you don't have to worry about it for a while." He glanced down at his sons. "I suppose we're going to need to introduce them to their siblings."

"It's late, Orion, and I just want to rest. That can wait until tomorrow." Ratchet sighed. "Besides, I highly doubt that any of them are going to mind waiting another day to meet them."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "You're right." Besides, he could always go with having a bit of time alone with his mate and creations before all of the others came.

* * *

><p>Red Cross knew that her creators needed some time alone with her new siblings. She didn't mind it, though she had a feeling that her other siblings would have issues with it. She knew that they wanted to see them.<p>

"Oh, come on, Cross. Why not?" Storm Cloud asked. She really wanted to see her creators and her siblings now.

"Storm Cloud, Carrier was in labor for forty-eight joor. He's exhausted. If he's not in recharge now, he will be soon. And the sparklings are most likely in recharge. We wake them, they are going to cry, which means-" Red Cross was cut off.

"That Carrier is going to come out of recharge, and he won't be happy." Prowl stated.

"And when Carrier's not happy, Sire's really not happy since Sire's the one who always takes the bunt of Carrier's anger, whether Sire's at fault or not." Ricochet added.

"Which also means we're all slagged because we're going to have Carrier and Sire both slagged off at us." Stargazer finished.

Red Cross nodded. "Let's save ourselves a lot of grief and just wait until tomorrow. I'm sure they'll be happy to let us see them then."

"Better that way, actually. No need in pissing Carrier off." Smokescreen snickered. "Besides, this means we'll get to see the grand-creators go nuts over them."

"And we'll get to see Carrier gets irate with them." Nova added.

"Well, we'll see them tomorrow, so why don't we all go get some rest." Hot Rod suggested.

None of them argued that and went to their respective homes to get some recharge before seeing their new siblings the next cycle.

* * *

><p>Ratchet had just finished feeding Blade Runner, the last of the three new sparklings to be fed, when all of his creations and his and Optimus's creators decided that it was time to show up to see their creators and, more importantly, their new siblings.<p>

"Oh, they are so cute!" Stargazer squealed as she looked at her newborn siblings.

"So, what are their designations?" Starlight asked, smiling at her new grand-creations.

"This is Blade Runner." Ratchet said, indicating the sparkling that he was currently holding in his arms. "The femme is Nightfall, and the other mech is Blaze."

Nightfall was in a sound recharge in her sire's arms, blissfully unaware of the large crowd that had gathered in the medical room that they were in.

Blaze and Blade Runner were both online, though, and they were very aware of the large crowd. The two mechlings weren't sure what to make of all these bots that they didn't know, but both could feel through the bond with their creators that their creators were at ease with them, so the two mechlings interpreted that as being safe with them.

"So, are you two ready to be kept up all night again?" Nova asked. She had become well acquainted with being up all night as neither of hers wanted to recharge through the night for the first stellar cycle.

"Might as well be." Ratchet smiled. "This is the third time that we've done this, so I think that we'll be fine."  
>Optimus nodded in agreement. "If we could survive it the first time, then I think that we can manage it this time."<br>Ricochet, Hot Rod, and Nova were a bit surprised to hear that.

"What was so bad about us?" Nova asked.

"At least one of you was up at all joor of the night. We weren't able to recharge much for the first two stellar cycles." Optimus answered.

"The pains of being a creator to newborns." Alpha Trion missed.

"You're really not helping me at the moment." Hot Rod was already nervous enough as it was, and this wasn't helping his nerves at all.

Ratchet smiled at his son. "Don't worry, Hot Rod. You'll be fine." He chuckled. "You'll probably just do like your sister and comm us at all joor of the night with questions or in a panic."

Nova looked embarrassed while the others laughed.

"Don't be embarrassed, Nova." Ratchet smirked at Prowl. "Prowl and Jazz were coming me virtually every with questions and sometimes in a panic over what turned out to be nothing."

"Yes. I have already told Hot Rod this." Prowl wasn't embarrassed at the fact that he had disturbed his carrier a great deal when Bluestreak had been a sparkling.

"You'll be fine, Hot Rod. All new creators are worried and scared, but it turns out all right in the end." Optimus assured his son.

Hot Rod hoped that they were right.

* * *

><p>Ratchet was stretched out across his and Optimus's berth while his mate was checking on their new creations. The medic was glad to be back in his own quarters now.<p>

Optimus walked back in a moment later. "They're in recharge."

"For now." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus smiled as he walked over and sat down on the berth, gently rubbing his mate's back. "I'm sure we'll be fine, Ratchet."

"I know. We're both just going to suffer from a lack of recharge for a while." Ratchet stated.

"Normal, Ratchet." Optimus reminded him.

Ratchet rolled over and sat up. "I know. I feel a bit better once I'm not so sore and tired from giving birth." The medic shook his helm. "I am happy to have them, Orion."

"I know, Ratchet." The Prime knew that Ratchet would never regret having any of his creations. "It is taxing to have to care for sparklings while you're still recovering from giving birth to them. That's why I always take time off afterwards to help you."

Ratchet smiled. "And I appreciate it."

Optimus then leaned down and pressed a kiss to Ratchet's lips. Ratchet sighed in appreciation as he wrapped his arms around his mate's neck and pulled him closer. Optimus then slipped his arms around Ratchet's waist to pull the chartreuse medic closer to him.

A loud pierced the silence then.

Optimus pulled with his own groan. "And so it begins."

Ratchet chuckled. "Not like we could do anything like that right now anyway."

"I know." Optimus moved off of the berth. "I'll get whoever it is." He then headed back to the nursery.

Ratchet knew that he and his mate were going to lose a lot of recharge and a lot of time alone in the cycles to come. But he knew that he would enjoy raising these three with Optimus just like he had enjoyed raising their last two sets of triplets together and just like he would enjoy raising their future creations together.

He just hoped that the next set wasn't a set of triplets.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought.<p>

And just so everyone knows, I'm not done yet. I keep coming up with more things for this story, so I'm just going to say it ends when it ends. So, this story keeps going for now.


End file.
